


jilted lovers and broken hearts

by aryasbadbenergy



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Arya Stark - Freeform, College AU, Die mad about it, F/M, Gendry Waters - Freeform, Gendrya - Freeform, Sex is mentioned a lot, Smut, all starks are present eventually lol but it’s mostly just the middle children, arya and sansa are close in this fic, ballerina arya, engineer gendry, gendrya smut, im a bad writer sorry, minor breera, minor sansaery, modern gendrya, my first full length gendrya fic, slow burn?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-08
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2019-11-14 02:06:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 47,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18043397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aryasbadbenergy/pseuds/aryasbadbenergy
Summary: she is beauty. she is grace. she will punch you in the face.the fic where gendry accidentally falls for the mean ballerina he’s shagging((named for the song by Brandon Flowers!))





	1. burning gold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arya’s POV: arya and gendry’s meet-hate (this is the lil prologue)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this story is my baby and i will always love it! it’s kind of cringe-y because it was the first full length gendrya story i ever wrote but i still love it and i hope that you do too!! i was still pretty new to the gendrya fandom so my characterization is not cute but 🤷🏻♀️ it was still fun to write so!

 

 

 

 

 

**Looking for an exit in this world of fear**  
**I can see the path that leads away**  
**Mama never left, and daddy needs me here**  
**I wish the wind would carry a change**  
**Looking through the window to a world of dreams**  
**I can see my future slip away**  
**Honey you won't get there if you don't believe**  
**I wish the wind would carry a change**

**I've had enough**  
**I'm standing up**  
**I need, I need a change**  
**I've had enough**  
**Of chasing luck**  
**I need, I need** a **change**

**I'm setting fire to the life that I know (I know)**  
**Let's start a fire everywhere that we go (we go)**  
**We starting fires,**  
**We starting fires till our lives are burning gold**  
**Till our lives are burning gold**

**Looking for my ticket to a higher place**  
**I can see my chance begin to fade**  
**One step forward and two back again**  
**I wish the wind would carry a change**

**I've had enough**  
**I'm standing up**  
**I need, I need a change**  
**I've had enough**  
**Of chasing luck**  
**I need, I need a change**

**I'm setting fire to the life that I know (I know)**  
**Let's start a fire everywhere that we go (we go)**  
**We starting fires,**  
**We starting fires till our lives are burning gold**  
**Till our lives are burning gold**

**Looking back I see I had the flame in me**  
**I'm the wind that's carrying a change**

**I've had enough**  
**Of chasing luck**  
**I need, I need a change**

**I'm setting fire to the life that I know (I know)**  
**Let's start a fire everywhere that we go (we go)**  
**We starting fires,**  
**We starting fires till our lives are burning gold**

**I'm setting fire to the life that I know (I know)**  
**Let's start a fire everywhere that we go (we go)**  
**We starting fires,**  
**We starting fires till our lives are burning gold**  
**Till our lives are burning gold**

**Burning Gold ~ Christina Perri**

 

_Arya_

When Arya was eight, she begged her proper mother to take fencing lessons. Catelyn agreed, but only if Arya would accompany her sister Sansa to dance lessons every Tuesday and Thursday evening. Arya complied, eager to learn to fence like her eldest brother Robb, and even learned to enjoy dance. 

But as Arya runs to her advanced ballet class at eight AM this morning, desperately trying to use a makeup wipe to clean the premature cum out of her hair from a fellow freshmen, she can not remember why she had ever learned to love dance. Of course the only time this class was available in her schedule would be this fucking early. Arya vowed to never again try to get a quickie less than an hour before class ever. She wouldn't even have time to stretch properly without losing her points for the day, so she might as well just kiss her muscles goodbye until next week. And on top of it all, she had promised to go hiking with her baby brother Rickon on Saturday, but that wasn't gonna happen now.

All because of Colton and his virgin-ness.

"Stark!" She hears as soon as she crashes through the doors. Her classmates have already gotten in their places on the barre. "Stand in line!" Professor H'ghar shouts and Arya, albeit not frightened easily, regrets even coming to class this morning.

”Yes, professor,” she mumbles. 

-

"Pliè, pivot, leap, pivot-" _crash_! Arya looks up to the boy that crashed into her, and rips out one of his earbuds. "Watch where you're going," she growls, leaning down to pick up the textbook he dropped on her foot. He could've broken her toe. Then what was she supposed to do?

He takes the book from her and says, "You're the one who sashayed into me, so maybe you should take your own advice," he pulls one of her earbuds out as payback. Arya rolls her eyes before the boy speaks again, "And besides, you could use some manners." Arya wants to retaliate, but the boy is already walking away from her. She rolls her eyes once again and walks towards Bran's apartment. She knocks on the door and he shouts that it's unlocked. She walks in to see him sitting at the table with books strewn in front of him. "Bran!" She shouts, jumping at him and wrapping her arms around his neck. His wheelchair backs into the edge of the table as Bran laughs at her over exaggerated greeting and she sniffs him dramatically. "I know you get to live alone now, but for God's sake, please take a shower."

"Be nice before I run you over with my chair, Arya." Arya flops down on his couch and they catch up for about an hour before the door to Bran's apartment opens again.

"Is Sansa coming over?" She starts to ask before she hears heavy footsteps that don't belong to their sister.

"Bran! You won't believe the nerve of this girl earlier!" Arya sinks into the couch. She knows that voice. _Prick_.

"Some art major ran into me in the hallway, and tried to tell me that I needed to watch where I was going. Like, I know you're used to getting your ass kissed, but being a bitch isn't necessary." Bran laughs and looks at Arya's face before he quickly stops laughing. He was eighteen, a man, but Arya was still his older sister.

"Yeah, that was me, asshole." She says, popping up from her seat on the couch.

The boy laughs, and looks to Bran. "Ah shit, is this your girlfriend wearing one of their program hoodies?"

”Sister,” Bran groans at the same time as Arya shouts, “Girlfriend? You have a girlfriend?”

"Her name's Meera. Earth science." The guy answers for Bran.

"Fuck you, Gendry."

"How long have you been dating?"

"Just a few weeks-” Bran mumbles

" _Weeks_? Does Sansa know?"

"No, nobody knows because I knew you would all act like like this. 'Who's her father, what does her family do for a living, is she a Christian or is she Jewish or-'"

"I don't give a shit about that Bran. Whatever happened to your unyielding crush on Myrcella?"

"She got married over the summer, remember? And I never had a chance with her."

Arya doesn't respond for a moment, worried that she'll say the wrong thing.

"What do you know about Meera?" Arya demands, looking to Gendry.

Gendry rolls his eyes and goes to his room to grab a bag. "I'm going to the gym, call me if you need something Bran."

"What a swell guy." Arya says, after he leaves.

"You're not exactly a peach, either, Arya," Bran says with a shrug. Arya shoves his shoulder and he laughs, before wheeling out of her reach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi one more thing lol i originally posted this under @ desolatemind on here but i changed my username to @aryasbadbenergy so don’t be alarmed if you thought that this was posted by someone else lol it’s still me


	2. turn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arya’s POV: Gendry helps Arya not murder someone at the bar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so listen, when i wrote this i hadn’t read any of the books yet so this all goes off of show characterization and when i went back through i realized how much i really didn’t “get” these characters ahahhah ha so this is a warning to escape i put a lot of heart and soul into this and i still love it but it’s def ooc

 

**I jump from thought to thought like a flea jumps to a light**  
**You could give an aspirin the headache of its life**  
**Maybe it's the crazy that I'd miss**  
**Watering plastic plants in the hope that they'll grow**  
**Seeing a message flash and then smashing up my phone**  
**Maybe it's the crazy that I'd miss**  
**It won't get better than this**

**I like the way your brain works, I like the way you try**  
**To run with the wolf pack when your legs are tired**  
**I like the way you turn me inside and out**  
**I like the way you turn**  
**I like the way your brain works**  
**I like the way your brain works**

**I want to get college girl drunk tonight**  
**No morning fears, no mountains to climb**  
**They say the best memories are the ones that we forget**  
**Like listening to Drake at your best friend's swimming pool**  
**Floating anti-clockwise in a red mushroom**  
**Maybe it's the crazy that I'd miss**  
**It won't get better than this**

**I like the way your brain works, I like the way you try**  
**To run with the wolf pack when your legs are tired**  
**I like the way you turn me inside and out**  
**I like the way you turn**  
**I like the way your brain works**  
**I like the way your brain works**

**Baby, it's the crazy I like**  
**I think I saw the world turn in your eyes**  
**Baby, it's the crazy I like**  
**And maybe it's the bullshit I'd miss**  
**Screaming at the moon in black lipstick**  
**Maybe it's the bullshit I'd miss**  
**It won't get better than this**

**Turn ~ The Wombats**

 

_Arya_

"Hey, could I buy you a drink?" The guy sitting next to her asks. He was tall with blue eyes, but they were flitting wildly about.

"Uh, yeah, thanks. How about another beer?" She responds. Who was she to turn down free drinks? She talks with him about school for about an hour and watches the hockey game. She wasn’t a big fan of hockey, but her little brother, Rickon, played for her old high school, so she had started to watch it more often. And the guy wasn’t an exceptional conversationalist.

“So, where are you going when you leave here tonight?" He asks. Arya lets out a puff of breath.

"Home."

"Do you wanna come to mine?"

"Um, no thanks. I appreciate the beer and the talk, but I'm not looking for anyone right now,” she says, trying to let him down, gently.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, I'm just not interested."

"I bought you two beers and fries,” he protests.

"And you thought I was gonna sleep with you because you spent $20 on me?” Arya bit the tip of her tongue. Of course someone wouldn’t buy her a drink without ulterior motives.

"You led me on! I could've talked to any other girl here and I spent all night on you!"

"I don't think letting you buy me drinks is leading you on. You offered to buy me a drink. What was I gonna do? Turn down free beer? Didn’t I tell you I’m a college student?” she sighs.

"You've been flirting with me all night, you fucking tease!" The guy yells at her. Some of the people sitting at the tables around the bar look up at the commotion. Arya meets a pair of familiar blue eyes for a moment, but doesn’t have time to place them before the guy stands up to loom over her.

“I wasn’t flirting with you,” she protests. Maybe he would get bored and leave.

“Yes, you were! Who wears a top that tight to a bar if they’re not looking for someone!” He mocks. Arya bit the side of her lip again.

_1\. 2. 3. Breathe._

“I’m fucking talking to you!”

Arya stands up and balls her fist at her side. The guy was at least a foot taller than her, but she wasn’t going to let someone talk to her like this.

“Okay buddy, she said she's not interested, I think you need to go now." The blue eyed boy says, standing up from his table behind Arya. Arya looks at him.

 _Gross_.

It’s Gendry.

“Mind your fucking business!” The guy shouts, taking a step closer to Arya. Gendry grabs the guy’s shoulder. “Get off of me!"

Gendry grumbles something and shoves the guy’s arm. "Come on, Arya, I'll walk you home."

Arya crosses her arms and shakes her head. "Why should I have to go? I didn't do anything wrong," she hisses and glares at the guy.

“Arya. I’ll feel like a bad person if I leave you here and I really want to go home and sleep. Can you please let me not feel like a bad person?” The guy huffs beside Gendry and Gendry grabs Arya by the elbow.

"Let go of me!" She shouts. More people look over at the three. All she wanted were some fucking fries and a beer, and now everyone else in this bar is interested in her life.

"You have class tomorrow, Arya. You need to get home."

“He can take you home, but I can’t?” The guy growls.

God, she was never taking an offered drink again.

“Yes.” Arya rolls her eyes and trudges out the door with Gendry, muttering out a "fine” to him.

They don't even make halfway out the door before Arya rips her arm from Gendry's grasp. It shuts behind them and Arya turns to face him.

"I can take care of myself, you know!"

"Yeah, you seemed like you really had the situation under control," Gendry mocks. "That guy was twice your size, and probably twice your age, in case you didn't notice."

"Oh my God, you're not my dad! You can't tell me what to do!"

"I didn't tell you to do anything! I was just trying to stop you from getting caught up in a mess that could've easily been avoided!"

"It was so embarrassing! I don't need someone to protect me! I have a black belt in karate!"

"If you had hit that guy he probably would've called the police. Do you want to go to jail?"

"If I meant that I wasn't going to be treated like a twelve year old! I'm not a little bitch!"

"You're embarrassed?"

"Yeah!"

"I have a micro penis!" Gendry shouts. Some of their classmates sitting outside look over at him and laugh. "How's that for embarrassing?" Gendry raises his eyebrows and grins.

"Oh fuck off, you wouldn't say it if it was actually true," Arya hisses and elbows him in the bicep.

"Did you just call my penis big?"

"It doesn't count if you're a dick. 90% of it comes from your personality, so really, you do have a micropenis."

Gendry smiles at her. “I’m sorry that I was a dick to you the other day.”

“I was kind of mean back, I guess.” She says, with a shrug. He was annoyingly heroic, she couldn’t be mean to him now. He smiles at her again. He was annoyingly handsome, too. “You don’t have to walk me home. Thank you for saving me or whatever,” she mocks with air quotes, “but my apartment is across campus. I can finish walking there myself.”

“Nah, that’s okay. That guy seemed pretty mad, and I don’t want to leave you alone. It’s a short walk,” he protests.

Arya raises her eyebrows. It was definitely _not_ a short walk, but if it made him feel better to walk her home, so be it.

She would never admit that his presence was making her feel a little better, too.

“So... dance?” Gendry asks.

“What about it?”

“It’s your major, right?”

“Why? Are you going to insult it again?”

“No. I’m just curious.”

“Yes, it’s my major. I take a dance class four days a week and then I’m minoring in Economics.”

“Nice.”

“Very.” They walk in silence for a moment. “What about you?” She asks.

“Automotive engineering,” he says.

Arya whistles. “Bran is going for computer engineering. I like math, but definitely not enough to major in it.”

“You’re minoring in math,” he points out.

“Yeah, but my minor isn’t nearly as horrible as engineering. Have fun never sleeping in the next few years.”

Gendry shrugs. “It’s not all math. I love cars.”

“My older brother used to be into cars, but he went to school to be a lawyer, so he doesn’t have much time for it anymore.”

“That’s a shame.”

“Yeah.”

They walk the next few blocks in more silence.

“Sorry that you had to leave the bar early,” Arya mutters.

“S’okay. I was planning on leaving soon anyway.”

“Are you lying to make me feel better?”

“No, I’m serious. My friends get to be a little too much for me after midnight.”

“Like gremlins?”

Gendry smiles. “Yeah, like gremlins. Don’t give them alcohol after midnight. Why were you at the bar alone, anyway?”

Arya rolls her eyes. Just because she was a girl she couldn’t drink alone? “I was just chilling. I didn’t lead that guy on.”

Gendry furrows his eyebrows. “I didn’t say you did. I was just wondering-

“Thank you for walking me home, but I live here. You can go home, now.”

“Arya,” he protests. She unlocks the door to her building. “I didn’t mean it that way. I was just wondering.” Arya opens the door and turns. He puts his hands in his pockets. 

"They have really good fries," she shrugs. He smiles.

"I'll get them next time I go, then."

Arya gives him a small smile. “Thanks for walking me home, Gendry. I’ll let Bran know that you’re not a complete dick.”

“I’m sure he’ll be glad to know.” Her smile grows at his banter. He wasn’t horrible. "See you around?" He asks.

Arya shrugs. _She hopes._


	3. sober

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arya’s POV: Sansa and Arya go to a party together, Arya makes a bad choice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i’m really bad at writing smut lol but smut is coming... (just not in this chapter) also i live in america but like fuck this place so i lowered the drinking age and adopted a lil bit of English slang feel free to laugh at me if i use a word very wrongly

 

**Limelight**  
**Lose my mind**  
**Limelight**  
**Lose my mind**  
**Limelight**  
**Lose my mind**  
**Limelight**

**Oh god, I'm clean out of air in my lungs**  
**It's all gone**  
**Played it so nonchalant**  
**It's time we danced with the truth**  
**Move along with the truth**  
**Ooh (hey)**  
**We're sleeping through all the days**  
**I'm acting like I don't see every**  
**Ribbon you used to tie yourself to me**

**But my hips have missed your hips**  
**So let's get to know the kicks**  
**Will you sway with me?**  
**Go astray with me?**

**King and Queen of the weekend**  
**Ain't a pill that could touch our rush**  
**But what will we do when we're sober?**  
**When you dream with the fever**  
**Bet you wish you could touch our rush**  
**But what will we do when we're sober?**  
**These are the games of the weekend**  
**We pretend that we just don't care**  
**But we care (but what will we do when we're sober?)**  
**When you dream with the fever**  
**Bet you wish you could touch our rush**  
**But what will we do when we're sober?**

**Oh God, I'm closing my teeth**  
**Around this liquor, wet**  
**Limelight, lose my mind**  
**I know you're feeling it too**  
**Can we keep up with the ruse?**  
**Ah ah (hey)**  
**B-bodies all through my house**  
**I know this story by heart**  
**Jack and Jill got fucked up and possessive**  
**When they get dark**

**But my hips have missed your hips**  
**So let's get to know the kicks**  
**Will you sway with me?**  
**Go astray with me?**

**King and Queen of the weekend**  
**Ain't a pill that could touch our rush**  
**But what will we do when we're sober?**  
**When you dream with the fever**  
**Bet you wish you could touch our rush**  
**But what will we do when we're sober?**  
**These are the games of the weekend**  
**We pretend that we just don't care**  
**But we care (but what will we do when we're sober?)**  
**When you dream with the fever**  
**Bet you wish you could touch our rush**  
**But what will we do when we're sober?**

**Midnight, we’re fading**  
**'Till daylight, we’re jaded**  
**We know that it’s over**  
**In the morning, you'll be dancing with all the heartache**  
**And the treason, the fantasies of leaving**  
**But we know that, when it's over**  
**In the morning, you'll be dancing with us**  
**Oh, dancing with us, oh, you'll be dancing with us**  
**(Can you feel it, can you, can you)**  
**Dancing with us, us (but what will we do when we're sober?)**

**When you get to my high (limelight, lose my mind)**  
**When you get to my (limelight, lose my mind)**

**Sober ~ Lorde**

  _Arya_

“Is _Margaery_ going to be there?” Arya teases her sister in a sing-song voice.

“I don’t know,” Sansa hisses back.

“Liar.”

“Shut up.”

“Does she know you’re hopelessly in love with her?”

Sansa smiles softly. “I think.”

“You should get married,” Arya coos.

“I’m only twenty, Arya.” Sansa shoves her shoulder. “Who’s that guy who walked you home last weekend, anyway? He was cute. And I saw you hanging on the door and giving him gooey eyes."

Arya rolls her eyes. Of course Sansa would look out the window at her when she saw Arya with a boy. "I did not give him gooey eyes."

"Did too. What's his name?"

“Gendry. He’s just Bran’s roommate.”

“Oh. Is he?”

“Oh shut up, you,” Arya rolls her eyes and pulls on Sansa’s hand to help lead her through the crowded doorway.

-

“Arya. Arya,” Sansa shoves her shoulder, shaking her from her daze.

“What?” Arya groans.

“I’m going home with Margaery,” she whispers.

Arya bolts into a upright sitting position. “ _Margaery_ Margaery?”

“No, stupid, a different Margaery,” Sansa grumbles with an eye roll.

“Holy fuck, Sansa. Lesbianism is definitely your calling,” Arya remarks.

Sansa furrows her eyebrows. “Anyways, are you okay to get home by yourself? Do I need to call someone to walk you home? Like Gendry?” Sansa smirks and wiggles her eyebrows.

Arya viciously shakes her head. “No, no! Go have fun!” Sansa grins at her and stands up from her squatting position in front of Arya. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” Arya calls as Sansa makes it to the doorframe where Margaery is reaching for her hand. Sansa discreetly flips her off and turns around to give her one last giddy smile.

Arya stands up from the couch she had been chilling on and makes her way back to the kitchen where the booze was. She liked parties well enough when she knew someone there to talk to, but Shireen Baratheon hated parties and left almost as soon as she arrived and Sansa just took off for a shag. Beth Cassel, Sansa and Arya’s childhood neighbor, was there, but the little cunt had stopped talking to Sansa as soon as she had told her she wasn’t straight. Sansa was so upset about it that she was too scared to tell anyone else in the family after that incident. It was amazing that Beth had kept her mouth shut long enough to not tell her father, who would have certainly told their parents. Arya grabs a bottle of beer from the counter and searches for a bottle opener to knock the cap off.

“Here,” a boy offers her his keychain, with a utility knife attached. After she pries the cap off, she closes the blade and hands it back to him.

“Thanks,” she says, looking up to meet his blue eyes. “Gendry!” She smiles at him.

He raises his eyebrows at her greeting and smiles back. “Glad to see you’ve warmed up to me since our last meeting,” he remarks.

“Not really, I just don’t know anyone else here.”

“Oh, so I’m just a last resort?”

“Absolutely,” she grins and takes a swig of beer from her bottle. “Mm,” she whips around to face someone else. “Ned fucking Dayne!” Arya hollers and hugs the boy from her ballet class. He pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose and blushes.

“Arya fricking Stark,” he responds. “Glad to see you out of a leotard. Er- I mean, not that I wanted to see you out of any of your clothes, just... you- you look nice,” he finally blurts out. Arya smiles at him.

“Awe, Ned. I’m glad to see you in regular clothes, as well!”

Arya turns back to Gendry. “Gendry, this is Ned, he’s in my ballet class. Ned, this is Gendry, he’s my brother’s roommate and a world class Arya hero.” Gendry nods at the boy and reaches out for his hand. “Nice to meet you,” he smiles. Ned gives him a small smile back and limply shakes his hand.

“I was getting ready to go play a round of beer pong, do you wanna come?” Ned asks. Arya nods and turns to Gendry.

“Sure. Gendry?” She asks.

Ned gives her a pained smile but steels his face when she turns back around. “I actually just meant- er, yeah, okay. Gendry, do you wanna go play?”

Gendry shrugs and follows Arya and Ned out to the patio, where people are standing in line for a turn to play. Ned searches for a fourth player while Gendry and Arya pitch their case for why they would make a good team. Ned returns with Lommy Greenhands, a boy that’s also in their class, but who Arya rarely talks to. “No offense, Ned, but Gendry used to play basketball in high school, so if I want to win, which I will, I’m better off on his team.” Ned grins at her.

“I don’t know, Lommy and I can probably kick your guys’ asses.”

“Bring it on,” Arya shouts as Lommy makes the first toss. He sinks the ping pong ball into a cup on Arya’s side of the table. Arya chugs the beer and sets the cup aside.

Arya throws next and narrowly misses a cup towards Ned. Ned tosses a ball and makes it into another cup, which Gendry has to drink.

Gendry throws next and misses. “I thought you used to play basketball?” she hisses.

“I never said I was good,” he shrugs.

When Arya and Gendry only have four cups left, they have to rearrange them into a diamond. They had only gotten three cups out on Lommy and Ned’s side. “I picked the wrong partner,” she grumbles.

“You only got out one cup,” he points out. “You’re not very good, either.”

“Shut up.”

Ned sinks another ball. “Fuck me,” Gendry grumbles and chugs the beer. He hits the edge of another cup, but the ball bounces back out. Ned laughs, but drinks the cup anyway.

“Because I’m a good sport, I’ll let you have that one. You two are pathetic,” he taunts.

“Wow, Ned, I didn’t know you had trash talk in you,” Arya grins, reaching for another ping pong ball.

“There are a lot of things you don’t know about me,” he smirks. Arya blushes. Ned was nice to her, but she didn’t like him back the way she thought he might like her.

“Right,” is all she can mutter out before she makes her shot.

Now Arya and Gendry stood with one cup of beer left on their side, and three left on Ned and Lommy’s. They held their breath as Lommy made his final shot, almost missing the cup. Gendry drinks the cup. He holds out his hand for Lommy and Ned to shake. “Good game,” he grins. Arya rolls her eyes.

“Never let me pick you for anything again,” she teases, reaching out her hand to Lommy and Ned, as well. “You guys were impressive. I never would have expected a couple of ballerinas to be better at beer pong than an ex basketball player,” she smirks at Gendry.

He grins back. “I did my best, it just wasn’t very good.”

“You don’t say?”

Gendry rolls his eyes at her and they pick up the cups to throw in the trash and let the next group play.

The tequila shots were their downfall. Before Gendry walked her home, she had convinced him to do a few shot with her. He complied easily enough, but the lumbering fool was a lightweight.

“Can you make it home, okay,” Arya teases, as she unlocks her building door.

“Yeah,” he supplies, but then after a moment he sways. They had both stumbled quite a bit on their way to Arya’s, and she would feel a bit guilty leaving him to find his way home.

“Come in,” she argues. He shakes his head.

“Nah, that’s okay. I can take care of myself.”

Arya could barely see straight, herself. She could imagine how Gendry was feeling, and he still drank more that she did.

“Come in,” she pushes, holding open the door for him to step inside. He complies easily, again, and follows her up the stairs to her apartment. She drops her keys once or twice trying to fit them in the keyhole, but eventually it opens. “I’ll get you a blanket or something for the couch,” she offers.

“S’okay. It’s hot in here, anyway,” he announces.

“Right,” Arya gulps when he pulls his shirt off. Arya Stark does not blush easily, but she had to turn around and walk into her kitchen so Gendry didn’t see her face. Fucking embarrassing. He was just a shirtless boy. She saw boys without their shirts all of the time with four brothers and her incessant dance lessons with boys. But Gendry was definitely not one of her brothers. Nor did he have the slim build of the dancers she worked with. She nearly jumps when Gendry touches the side of her arm to squeeze past her into the kitchen.

“Sorry, excuse me,” he apologizes. Arya avoids his eyes. “Can I have some water?” He asks.

“Cups are above your head,” she offers, looking down at her jittery hands. She didn’t even drink that much, why was she this nervous?

“Which cabinet?” He asks.

Arya pushes past him and hops up onto the counter behind him to pull a plastic cup down. Sansa put the plastic cups on the top shelf, which was fine for her rudely tall sister, but inconvenient for a drunk Arya. Arya sets the cup down beside the sink and bends her body to hop down. She slips a little, but Gendry grabs her hips to keep her from falling. She grips the edge of her countertop to steady herself, but Gendry keeps his hold on her. “Uh, thanks,” she offers and Gendry nods. “You can let go, now.”

“Right, yeah, sorry,” he blurts, releasing her hips. Arya turns around on the countertop to face him. He should invest in a belt. His jeans are low across his hips and Arya’s skin crawls with the realization. Apparently tequila made her nervous. She hands him the cup from beside her leg, but Gendry doesn’t make any move to fill it.

“Fuck it,” she hisses, under her breath. She was never nervous around boys, and she wouldn’t be nervous now. Tequila wasn’t going to hold her back tonight.

“Fuck what?” Gendry asks and furrows his eyebrows.

“Me,” she blurts and surges forward to kiss him.


	4. for reasons unknown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gendry’s POV: aftermath of tequila induced poor decision making

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m glad to hear that some of my readers are enjoying this!! i was so excited to publish this! ((i’m doing a reread currently and i forgot that hangovers existed?? is it too late to edit them in??)

****

**I pack my case**  
**I check my face**  
**I look a little bit older**  
**I look a little bit colder**  
**With one deep breath**  
**And one big step**  
**I move a little bit closer**  
**I move a little bit closer**

**For reasons unknown**

**I caught my stride**  
**I flew and flied**  
**I know if destiny's kind**  
**I've got the rest of my mind**

 **But my heart, it don't beat**  
**It don't beat the way it used to**  
**And my eyes, they don't see you no more**  
**And my lips, they don't kiss**  
**They don't kiss the way they used to**  
**And my eyes don't recognize you no more**

 **For reasons unknown**  
**For reasons unknown**

 **There was an open chair**  
**We sat down in the open chair**  
**I said, if destiny's kind**  
**I've got the rest of my mind**

 **But my heart, it don't beat**  
**It don't beat the way it used to**  
**And my eyes, they don't see you no more**  
**And my lips, they don't kiss**  
**They don't kiss the way they used to**  
**And my eyes don't recognize you, at all**

 **For reasons unknown**  
**For reasons unknown**

 **See, my heart, it don't beat**  
**It don't beat the way it used to**  
**And my eyes don't recognize you no more**  
**And my lips, they don't kiss**  
**They don't kiss the way they used to**  
**And my eyes don't recognize you no more**

 **For reasons unknown**  
**For reasons unknown**  
**For reasons unknown**  
**For reasons unknown**

**For Reasons Unknown ~ The Killers**

_Gendry_

"Fuck.” Gendry hisses when he wakes up. He opens his eyes too soon, and has to lay there with them shut for a few moments. The sun is out already, and his head pounds. He’s in someone else's room, which he could’ve guessed would happen if he drank too much last night. He was pretty good about limiting himself to a few beers, but the beer pong must have gotten to him last night. He can't really remember anything after walking Arya home.

Arya.

_Ah, fuck._

A girl stirs beside him. Gendry clenches his jaw, not ready to look and see who the girl is. He sucks in a breath and turns. He has to rip the bandaid off. She’s quite naked and he looks up to her face. Her dark hair covers it, but he has a good idea of who she is. He tries to sit up quietly, but Arya's eyes flash open. They make eye contact and stare at each other for a moment. Arya slowly pulls her sheet up to cover her breasts and sits up. She swallows thickly.

"Morning," she mumbles.

Gendry gapes at her. He’s such an idiot. Arya is his roommate's sister. His roommate. The guy he had to live with for the next four months.

"I'm gonna go," he finally huffs out.

Arya nods. "You probably should. I'm sure my sister will be back soon."

Gendry nods back. He blushes when he realizes that he has to get out of the bed to find his clothes.

Arya shifts to face the other wall in her room and turns her back to Gendry. He quickly stands and finds his jeans by the bedroom door. He finds his discarded shirt and hoodie on the couch by his cell phone and his keys. He hears the shower start from somewhere in the apartment and shuts the door behind him.

He would've usually listened to music on his walk home, but his phone was dead, so he was left to wallow in guilt. Gendry wasn't a religious person, but he silently thanked God that Bran usually went to breakfast with Meera on Saturday mornings.

When Gendry makes it the apartment after his walk of shame, he remembers  _why_ he isn't a religious person. Bran and Meera are both in the apartment watching TV.

"Hey," Bran and Meera both call from the living room.

"Hi," he calls back. _Don't make eye contact. Don't make eye contact. Don't make-_

"Where were you last night? I tried texting you, but you didn't answer," Bran asks, turning around to look at Gendry when he tries to walk to his room.

"I just passed out at Anguy's. Sorry I didn't answer, my phone's dead," he waves the phone.

"Well, good. I'm glad you didn't die or something," he teases. Gendry gives him a pained smile. He probably wouldn't think that if he had known where Gendry actually was.

"Not dead, just hungover. I'm gonna go take a shower."

-

“Did you pull a muscle in ballet yesterday morning?” Bran asks Arya innocently.

“No,” Arya chokes out, chewing the side of her lip.

“Did you get hurt or something, though? You’re walking kind of funny,” He says.

Gendry chokes on his drink of water. He coughs and splutters as all three pairs of eyes turn to him in the kitchen. “I’m good, I just forgot how to drink water,” he supplies.

If Gendry had known Arya planned on showing up here later today, he would’ve found somewhere else to go. She apparently had planned on meeting Meera this morning, and didn’t want to cancel last minute. And he thought it might be awkward to come out of his room for water only to turn around as soon as he saw Arya, sans water. Bran would be suspicious when they had just started to get along. Gendry and Arya just didn’t look at each other all morning. 

Bran turns back to Arya, expecting an answer. “I’m fine. I just didn’t stretch properly, is all,” she mutters.Bran nods. 

Gendry pulls his phone and sends a text to the number Arya had given him at some point last night. They couldn’t go on like this forever. 

 **Gendry** : **Can** **we** **talk?**

 **Arya** : **why?**

**Gendry: ??**

**Arya** : **fine we can get lunch when i leave**

-

“Are you, ah- okay?” He mumbles, when Arya sits down across from him with her food. She tries to cover her grimace with a cough. Arya raises her eyebrows. “I mean, did I- did I do that?”

“Calm down, Gendry. I’m not sure there’s enough space in here for your ego,” she grumbles.

“Alright, fine, I was just... I just thought I should ask.”

They sit in silence for a moment. “But if you _must_ know,” Arya hisses. “I’m kind of sore. I can’t really remember everything from last night, but I would assume...” she tilts her head and makes a face.

“You weren’t like...” he grimaces, “you weren’t a virgin, right?”

“Oh my God,” she bristles.

“I’m only asking because-“

“I _know_ why you’re asking. You don’t want to feel guilty. You’re in luck, though. I wasn’t.” Gendry lets out a puff of breath. Arya rolls her eyes at him.

“So, it happened. We can’t change that it happened, but if we avoid each other like the plague after we were starting to be nicer to each other, Bran will definitely notice something happened.”

“So, we’ll just never talk about it again,” Arya offers. Gendry nods.

“And it will never happen again,” Gendry adds. Arya nods.

“Good,” she reaches her hand out to shake. 

“Good,” Gendry repeats and shakes her hand. 


	5. tidal wave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arya’s POV: Arya reflects on the Tequila incident

 

 

**I can see it in your eyes**  
**See it in your face**  
**Banging on your chest**  
**Acting tough looking unfazed**

**Tripping over landlines**  
**Cutting deep with a dull blade (blade)**  
**Running out of unrest**  
**Goin' out of your mind**

**Lonely days will follow**  
**Days will follow**  
**And the gaze that stuck**  
**The halls will know your name**

**Hit me like a tidal wave**  
**Triggered by the aftershock**  
**Hit me like a tidal wave**  
**Triggered by the aftershock**  
**Hit me like a tidal wave**  
**Triggered by the aftershock**

**Aftershock**  
**Aftershock**  
**Triggered by the aftershock**

**I can see it with my own eyes**  
**The tracks down your face**  
**It can't be easy tryna unwind**  
**Sleepin' on your day dreams**

**I'm not tryna role play**  
**I keep thinkin' break us take the wheel**  
**These days can break**  
**But I'm gonna take the wheel**

**Hit me like a tidal wave**  
**Triggered by the aftershock**  
**Hit me like a tidal wave**  
**Triggered by the aftershock**  
**Hit me like a tidal wave**  
**Triggered by the aftershock**  

**Aftershock**  
**Aftershock**  
**Triggered by the aftershock**

**Bet on the winners**  
**Worst of you's born to lose**  
**Bed with no dinner**  
**The rest of you's born to lose**  
**Better than zero**  
**Worst of you's born to lose**  
**Bet on the winners**

**Hit me like a tidal wave**  
**Triggered by the aftershock**  
**Hit me like a tidal wave**  
**Triggered by the aftershock**  
**Hit me like a tidal wave**  
**Triggered by the aftershock**

**Aftershock**  
**Aftershock**  
**Aftershock**

**Tidal Wave ~ Portugal. The Man**

 

_Arya_

“What happened to you?” Sansa asks when Arya gets back from lunch. 

“What?” Arya asks. She had missed Sansa this morning, and assumed that was a good sign that she had still been with Margaery.

“Why are you walking like that?” 

“I’m a dancer! This shit happens!”

“You were fine yesterday,” Sansa points out. “And you didn’t have class this morning.”

“Maybe it didn’t start hurting until this morning,” Arya protests.

“Seriously, just tell me what happened. I’m a closeted lesbian, who am I gonna tell? Mom and Dad?” Arya grumbles something under her breath. “What?”

“I had...” She continues to mumble.

“Arya, oh my God! What did you do?”

“I had sex last night!”

“Congrats? The Stark sisters can get it-”

“You’re the worst.”

“But you shouldn’t be walking like that. Did he hurt you, are you okay-”

“Oh my God.”

“What? You’re my little sister, I’m worried!”

“No, he didn’t do anything on purpose! We were just really drunk and I told him I couldn’t remember anything because he was packing. An ego boost like that just ruins boys.”

“What?”

Arya holds her hands her shoulder-width apart. Sansa furrows her eyebrows. “ _Packing_ ,” she emphasizes.

“For your sake, I hope you’re exaggerating-”

“No! It was like trying to put a remote through-”

“Stop talking! Overshare! Stop talking!” Sansa covers her ears and starts to hum.

Arya rolls her eyes. “Well, you asked,” she mumbles.

“Who was it?” Sansa asks.

“You wouldn’t know him.”

“If I didn’t know him, then it wouldn’t matter what his name is. Therefore, you won’t tell me who it was because I _do_ know him!”

“How was your night with Margaery?”

“Very good, thanks for asking, but I can tell you about that later. Right now, I want to know who harbors a goddamn tank-”

Arya runs to shut herself in her bedroom and sits in front of the door.

“Arya. Arya!” Sansa calls as she tries to push open the door. Arya digs her heels into the floor, trying to keep the door from moving. “Arya, let me in!”

“No!”

Sansa pushes the door with all of her might and Arya has to slide out of the way to avoid getting smashed between the door and the wall.

"Who?" she demands.

"No one you know!"

“Fine, don’t tell me who it was. I just like to know these things.”

“I know you do," Arya mutters and rolls her eyes.

Sansa looks around Arya’s room for a second before picking something up off of her dresser. “Well, I’m glad to know that you used protection,” Sansa says, holding up the empty condom wrapper.

“Ugh! Get out!” Arya yells, burying her face in a pillow. She was never drinking Tequila again.

-

“It was nice having dinner with you,” a guy from her jazz class, Kyle, says.

“Yeah, you too,” Arya responds as they walk out the door of the restaurant.

“Well, I’ll see you on Monday. Have a good night,” he says, giving her a smile. Arya smiles back.

He wasn’t even going to walk her home? She only lived two minutes away from the little shop, but still. Gendry had walked ten minutes in the opposite direction of his apartment and they weren’t even on a date either time.

Sansa had went out of town for the weekend to visit Margaery’s lake house, so Arya had to find ways to entertain herself. Going on bland dates definitely wasn’t going to cut it, though, and after her encounter with Gendry a month ago, she tried to stop drinking fun alcohol.Her phone starts ringing, and it takes her a second to find it in her bag. “Hi, Bran,” she greets him.

“Hey! I know Sansa is out of town tonight, so I didn’t know if you wanted to come over and watch a movie with me? I know it’s already kind of late and you might have plans, but...”

“That sounds fun! Is Gendry going to be there?” Aryawinces a little when she asks that. “No offense, but I don’t want to third wheel with just you and Meera if you’re gonna mack on each other the whole time,” she says, trying to cover her ass. "I might need backup."

“Meera’s working tonight, but yeah Gendry’s here. I think he might go out with Anguy, though, he usually does on Friday nights.”

“Alright, I’m on my way over. You better pick a good movie though. None of that aliens or robots who fall in love shit. Or alien-robot hybrids.”

“I don’t only watch alien-robot hybrid movies!” He protests.

“Sure, Bran. Also you better have popcorn.”

“Of course I have popcorn. What kind of heathen invites someone over for a movie if they don’t have popcorn?”

“I don’t know, Bran, but there are some monsters like that out there.”

“I’m shivering. That’s terrifying,” he cries with a laugh.

“I know! I’ll be there in ten minutes!” She says and hangs up the phone. She hadn’t really talked to Gendry again since the tequila incident, even though their paths had crossed a few times. She needed time to emotionally prepare before seeing Gendry. She didn’t ask Bran about him because she wasn’t excited to see him or anything. That would be stupid.

-

“Should I pause the movie, Bran?” Arya asks.

”Nah, that’s okay. I’ve seen this movie before,”  he says, and wheels into the bathroom. When Arya hears the lock click, she turns to Gendry. 

"Can we have sex again?" Arya whispers, scooting over to Gendry's side of the couch.

"Can we _what_?" Gendry hisses back.

"Have sex. My life is boring and if I have one more mind numbing date with a boy in a fucking argyle sweater, I might actually pay someone to kill me."

"I thought we agreed to never do it again."

"Yeah, well, that was before I exhausted all of my cuffing efforts. I'm single, and I'm done mingling."

"We both agreed it was a mistake. Mistakes happen. You just have to make sure they don't happen again."

"It's not like we swore a blood oath, Jesus. We just decided we were both better off if we didn't do it again. But now I've changed my mind." Arya says, still in a whisper, and pushes her legs onto Gendry's lap.

"If I say 'no,' I'll feel better about myself."

"Don't be like that. I would be impressed to find out if you haven't fantasized about fucking me again."

"You're full of yourself, aren't you?"

"Oh shut up, I know the last porno you watched was a tiny girl with black hair getting fucked."

"How the hell would you know-“

"I didn't, I just thought that guess was worth a shot. You want to have sex with me, you just won't admit it."

"Don't you have an ex-boyfriend you can call? Or just watch porn like a _normal_ person."

"Ballet has made me extremely flexible. I can guarantee I would be the best fuck of your life."

"It's not gonna happen. Drop it."

Arya leans down to his ear. "You can deny it all you want, but I know it's me who you think about when you're all alone at night," Gendry rolls his eyes and shoves her legs off of his.

"Piss off," he huffs and turns a bright shade of red. Arya smirks to herself and climbs back over to her side to finish watching the movie when she hears Bran flush the toilet. Bran wheels out from the bathroom, and pulls himself back into his recliner. If he noticed the blush on Gendry's face or the smirk on Arya's, he doesn't say anything.

-

Arya sits up on the couch when she hears someone buzzing her apartment. She walks over to the intercom and presses the call button.

“Who is this?” She asks.

“Hey. It’s Gendry. Can I come up?” Arya presses the button to buzz him in. She unlocks her apartment door when he walks up and lets him in. They stand in the doorway for a few moments and Arya idly wonders if she should’ve changed into something better suited for when a guy who you made a pact with specifically not to fuck again comes over. She settles for crossing her arms over her chest after closing the door.

“So what’s up?” She asks.

“I think I changed my mind.”

“About?” she prods, trying not to smile.

“Last night.”

“Oh?”

"You said you'd be the best fuck I've ever had. I was a little drunk last time.”

“Should I prove it, then?”

“If you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind at all,” she smirks and unties the front on her silk robe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha sorry it’s also not this chapter but i promise smut is coming... just not right now


	6. sex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gendry’s POV: some rules are established

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning!! this chapter contains smut so if you don’t like that just scroll past it there’s not really any details there that you need to know to read the story its just there for the thirst

**And I said, "what's up?**   
**What you been thinking?"**   
**'Cause you've been staring at that roof so long I'd swear it's come alive**   
**And she spoke nine words**   
**And now we're sinking**   
**But I can't find it in myself to want to lie to keep this thing from going down**

**'Cause that girl took my heart**   
**And I ain't want it back**   
**No**   
**I'm laying down my cards**

**'Cause you said it meant nothing**   
**And I should've kept my silence**   
**But I guess I'm too attached to my own pride to let you know**   
**That all these words meant nothing**   
**And I've always been this heartless**   
**And we were just having sex no I would never call it love**   
**But love**

**Oh no, I think I'm catching feelings**   
**And I don't know if this is empathy I feel**   
**Just hold on**   
**Remember why you said this was the last time?**

**So I guess it's...**   
**Let die to let live**

**And what's good**   
**When both choices I've got have us staring down the barrel to the bullets I can't stop?**   
**And so I stand off**   
**Like indecision's Kevlar**   
**'Til this fear of feeling stops and I'm done**   
**But you**

**No, I don't know how to forget you**   
**No, I don't know how to forget you**   
**No, I don't know how to forget you**   
**No, I don't know how to forget you**

**'Cause that girl took my heart**   
**(No, I don't know how to forget you)**   
**And I ain't want it back, no**   
**(No, I don't know how to forget you)**   
**A bulletproof restart**

**Oh no, I think I'm catching feelings and**   
**I don't know if this is empathy I feel**   
**Just hold on**   
**Remember why you said this was the last time?**

**So I guess it's...**   
**Let die to let live**

**No, I don't know how to forget you**   
**No, I don't know how to forget you**   
**No, I don't know how to forget you**   
**No, I don't know how to forget you**

**Sex ~ Eden**

  _Gendry_

"We should really stop doing this," Gendry says, trying to catch his breath.

"We should," Arya responds. "But I don't want to."

"I don't want to either."

"Seems like we're having a bit of a predicament."

"Seems like we are."

Arya takes a deep breath before she sits up. ”We could make an agreement... of sorts,” she suggests.

"Huh?"

"Like a friends with benefits type of thing. People do that all of the time."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because we shouldn't even be having sex in the first place."

"Well, we are. And every time we say we should stop and then every time we don't. We could at least have an understanding."

"Like a list of rules?"

"Is this 'To All The Boys I've Loved Before?' No, I just mean like a verbal agreement."

"I still don't think we should do it," Gendry protests.

"We still will." Gendry stares at Arya for a moment.

"Fine," he grumbles and sits up beside her.

"Okay, so as long as we have a mutual understanding, it should be fine."

"Here's a rule: No more kissing."

"Why?"

"I do this really weird thing where when I have sex with someone, I want to have an emotional connection, maybe you've heard of it, it's calling having fucking _feelings_."

"Really? You don't have to kiss me like you love me, but what's a little tongue action going to do?"

"No kissing."

"What are we supposed to do then? Just stare awkwardly at each other while we fuck?"

"We don't have to face each other."

Arya rolls her eyes. "Fine. How about we always use condoms? And do an STD test if you sleep with someone else."

"That's fair."

"I don't think I need to worry about you, though. You hate everyone."

"That's not true!" he protests. "I just don't have a lot of free time on my hands."

"And then obviously, sex isn't expected. You have to get clear consent."

"Well, yeah. That was a given."

"Just checking," she defends and holds out her arms. "And promise you won't fall in love with me?" She teases. Gendry rolls his eyes.

"I doubt that's gonna be a problem. I'm more worried about you falling in love with me, anyways."

Arya scoffs and hits his shoulder. "You're right. It's your dreamy blue eyes," she mocks.

-

"Do you care about my body count?"

"No?"

"Not at all?"

"I mean, I wonder sometimes, but it doesn't affect me, directly. As long as you aren't sleeping with anyone else without telling me, I don't think it's physically possible for me to care less."

"Good. I wonder about yours, too, but I don't care."

"Good."

They lay in silence for a while, trying to catch their breath.

"Can we tell each other, anyway?" Arya asks.

"God, I thought you'd never ask. Same time?"

Arya nods, and starts a countdown from 3. "3...2...1," she puffs out."Six."

"Three. Or four counting you, I guess," he says.

He holds out his hand to Arya for a high five.

"You're impressed?" She asks, sounding suspicious.

"I mean, yeah. The first girl was my ex girlfriend, the second was a fling, and the third was...” he grimaces. “I'm just impressed. You get tail."

"My first boyfriend, you, and four hookups." Gendry raises his eyebrows and nods his head. "You can say it, then. You probably think I'm a slut," she groans and Gendry shakes his head.

"No. I indirectly had sex to pass Norse mythology last semester, so I think I’ve probably scored more points than you on the thot scale."

"You did what?"

"Professor Asshai. I don't recommend having sex with your professors, it was pretty awful, but I needed that credit to graduate next year."

"How do you indirectly have sex for a grade?"

"So, it was an online class, and I had a D which was soon to drop. And then I met her, not knowing who she was. I went into class for the final next week and left with an B-."

"One of my hookups was a virgin from my history class, I didn't know he was a virgin, and he jizzed in my hair like two seconds in.”

”You defiled him,” Gendry gasps, dramatically.

”I did _not_!” She gapes. “I mean, I never asked him if he was a virgin, but I thought it was safe to assume-”

”Poor history class virgin.”

”Oh shut up. You’ve never shagged a virgin?”

”Nope.”

”Not even when you lost your virginity?”

Gendry shakes his head. “We’ve already discussed this. It’s my dreamy blue eyes,” he teases. Arya rolls her eyes at him and shoves his shoulder. 

-

Gendry grips her hips, pulling them to him with every thrust, and she shifts her legs to spread them wider. He grins at her back and pushes one his hands up the hem of her shirt. He slides it along her stomach and up and around her breasts. He feels her shift against his hand and prod it with her breast. “Patience," he mocks, and pulls his hand back down to her stomach.

"I'm not-" she cuts off at his thrust, "a patient person." He slowly trails his hand back up and plants it between her breasts, using the edge of his thumb and pinky finger to ghost over her nipples. "I swear to God-" she starts and grabs his hand through her shirt. She leans down so her other forearm can support the rest of her body and pulls his hand over one of her breasts. Gendry lets go of her breast and brings his hand back down to her hip.

"Beg," he suggests and she stifles a laugh.

"I don't beg," she says. Gendry stills for a moment, thinking that maybe he could have made her beg for what he knew she wanted, but she had only laughed. Damn her. She rests her body on one of her forearms again and brings her other hand up between her thighs.

"You will," he taunts and grabs her hand to pin against the mattress.

"I hate you, do you know that?" Gendry smiles at her back again, and starts to move his hips against hers. "You're such a dick," she hisses, and pushes back against him.

"You only have to say one word, and I'll give you-" He lets out a sharp breath when she clenches around him and knows she has a smirk on her face, even though he can't see it. "One word and I'll give you what you want." Gendry uses his free hand to trail down her belly, but she nudges it away with one of her knees.

"I don't beg," she laughs as Gendry lets out a frustrated groan, knowing Arya isn't going to be complying any time soon. He lets go of her wrist and moves his hand back to her hip, while his other hand travels up her shirt to her breasts.

When they had finished, Arya gathers the rest of her clothes and laughs at his disappointed look. “What?”

"You're very difficult," he groans.

"I don't beg," she repeats and Gendry huffs. "What's wrong? I'm not like the other girls you've fucked? 'Oh, Gendry, you're a sex god, put your baby in me!'" She mocks, with a laugh. He tosses a pillow at her head, but she catches it with her left hand. He smiles at her and resists his sudden urge to kiss her. Stupid. She throws the pillow back onto his bed.

"Absolutely, they used those exact words, too," he teases, and tosses her jeans from the other side of his bed to her. "Now get out, Bran's class ends in fifteen minutes and I have to hide the evidence that you were ever here."

"Why don't you just tell him?" She suggests, tugging her jeans on.

"Hey, Bran, my roommate, remember when you accidentally introduced me to your sister? Well, now we fuck each other when you're not around, so thanks for the opportunity that you unknowingly presented to us."

Arya laughs and fixes her braid in the mirror. "In our defense, we had already met before he introduced us," is all she says as she puts her phone in her back pocket and leaves the apartment.

-

"Hey, Gendry?" Bran calls from the living room.

Gendry sits up from his desk and walks into the common room. Bran holds Arya's hoodie in his lap. "Was Arya here earlier?"

He could lie, and say it was another girl who was in her program that came by earlier, but of course she left the hoodie with "Stark" painted on the back.

"Uh, yeah, she was just here to, uh-" Bran raises his eyebrows, waiting for Gendry's story."Yeah, she was here."

"Why?" Bran prods.

"She needed to borrow my American history book."

"No, she didn't. She took that class last year."

"Right," Gendry wants to hit himself for being so stupid.

"Why are you acting weird? Why'd she come over?"

"Okay, she's gonna be really mad at me for telling you this."

"Oh?"

"Promise me that you won't tell her you know?"

"I guess." Gendry takes a deep breath.

"She wanted to get you a new vinyl for your birthday, but couldn't remember which ones you had, so she came over to look at them."

"Oh, okay," Bran shrugs. "Tell her that I want an Elvis Presley one. And make sure she gets her hoodie back. She’s very attached to them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> brb im too busy cringing at my attempt at smut


	7. burn it down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gendry’s POV: Arya brings out her rebellious side and they talk about a sensitive topic for Gendry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter got REALLY angsty like i’m so sorry if u have a lot of feelings bc this may hurt

**Always said I was a good kid**  
**Always said I had a way with words**  
**Never knew I could be speechless**  
**Don't know how I'll ever break this curse**

 

**Now the world is only white noise**  
**Frequencies that I can't understand**  
**I can't be bothered with the teachers**  
**Always trying to shape the way I act**

**Burn it down, burn it down, burn it down, burn it down**

**I'll set fire to the whole place**  
**I don't even care about our house**  
**It's not the same in here since he left anyways**

**Burn it down, burn it down, burn it down, burn it down**

**Always said I was a good kid**  
**Always said I had a way with words**  
**Never knew I could be speechless**  
**Don't know how I'll ever break this curse**

**Now the world is only white noise**  
**Frequencies that I can't understand**  
**I can't be bothered with the teachers**  
**Always trying to shape the way I act**

**Burn it down, burn it down, burn it down, burn it down**

**Momma told me all of this is**  
**Just a place we have to settle for**  
**Less than anything we dream on**  
**We'll continue to be disappointed**

**I feel down, I feel down, I feel down, I feel down**  
**I feel down, I feel down, I feel down, I feel down**

**Burn it down, burn it down, burn it down, burn it down**  
**Burn it down, burn it down, burn it down, burn it**  
**Burn it, burn it**

**Burn it Down ~ Daughter**

_Gendry_

“What’s this tattoo for?” Arya asks, poking the side of his neck. She lays on her stomach next to Gendry. 

“It’s just a bull,” he groans, pushing her hand away. “Stop poking me.”

“Why?”

“Because everyone said I was bullheaded. So I got a bull tattooed on my head.”

“That’s your neck.” Gendry rolls his eyes. “What’s this one?” She asks and points to the one on the back of his shoulder.

“It’s a lyric from my mom’s favorite song. And then...” he clears his throat. “Her birth and death date.”

“Oh. M’sorry,” Arya winces.

“Don’t be. She was amazing. I’m lucky that she was my mom,” he says and gives her a sad smile. Gendry misses his mom everyday, but she would hate it if he wallowed. She was always so positive, and looked at the bright side of things. She was only fifteen when she had Gendry, but she loved him more than anything. She did the best that she could for him.

“Will you tell me about her?”

“Soon,” he promises. He wasn’t ready to share any more details about his mom just yet.

Arya’s fingers press into his ribs.

“Let me guess. You got this one because you like fire,” she mocks.

“I mean... it was my first tattoo, I thought it looked cool.”

She shrugs. “This one’s tiny,” she says, pointing to the small hammer on the side of his stomach. “What is it?”

Gendry blushes. “It’s a dumb one,” he promises.

“Tell me.”

“It was my first tattoo.”

“I thought the fire was your first tattoo.”

“Yeah, but I say that because I hope no one notices this one.”

“Why’d you get it tattooed then if you’re embarrassed about it?”

“Because I was an idiot when I got it.”

“What is it?”

He scrunches up his face. “Do you know the Marvel comics?” Arya nods. “It’s supposed to be Thor’s hammer...”

Arya laughs. “Oh my God! You’re a bigger nerd than my brother!”

“I was dumb! I thought it would be cool.”

“You were dumb,” she agrees.

-

"Do you need me to hold your hand?" Gendry mocks.

"I'm not a little bitch. I have four brothers, and when we had loose teeth, we would tie strings to doorknobs and slam them, and we played tackle football every Thanksgiving, I used to walk barefoot in the snow, and one time I broke my arm and I didn't even know for three days." Gendry rolls his eyes at her.

Tormund, the guy who had done Gendry’s most recent tattoos, starts the tattoo on the back of Arya's neck. She hisses a little and grasps for Gendry's hand.

"I thought you weren't a little bitch?"

"I will skin you in your sleep if you breathe a word of this to anyone." How Arya could be this threatening while she held Gendry's hand like a child getting a shot is something Gendry will never understand.

“Awwe, it’s like we’re getting matching tattoos,” Gendry teases.

“No we’re not.”

“They’re in the same spot. The Bull and the Ballerina.”

Arya rolls her eyes. “I would never get a matching tattoo with you.”

“Ouch. Be careful, my feelings are fragile.”

“Mm, my feelings are fragile,” she mimics.

“Stop moving your lips, girl,” Tormund grumbles.

Arya lets out a sigh. She makes a face at Gendry and he gives her a stupid smile.

Arya stares at the walls of the tattoo shop while Tormund finishes the simple design.

“All done,” he announces.

“That’s it?” She asks.

Tormund nods. “Take the bandage off in 24 hours and wash it twice a day for a few weeks. And don’t take hot showers.” Arya looks to Gendry.

“You didn’t tell me I couldn’t take hot showers,” she grumbles as she pays Tormund for the ink.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that a hell demon like you took blistering hot showers everyday.”

—

"So, why are you so old?" Arya nags Gendry as he hands her a beer.

"I'm only 23,” he grumbles.

"Yeah, but you're a junior in college. You're way too smart to have failed."

“I had to drop out for a while.”

“Why?”

"I was on a scholarship... and then my mother got sick my sophomore year. I started to fall behind in school and I lost the money. I was working full time to help her pay for her treatments and had to move back home to care for her,” he sighs. “I didn’t have to move back home, I mean. She begged me not to, but I couldn’t just leave her alone like that.”

“She was probably so happy that you came home for her.”

“Of course I went home for her. She was my mom. I loved her,” he hisses.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-” Arya says and Gendry runs a hand down his face. He didn't mean to snap at her. 

“I know. I know, Arya. I’m sorry, I just never really talk about her. I don’t know what to say about her.”

“What did she like to do?”

“She wanted to be a singer,” he smiles. “She was really good, but... my dad walked out when I was just a baby so it was me and her. She worked in a bar,” he mumbles.

“What song is on your shoulder?” Arya asks.

Gendry turns his back to her so she can lift the sleeve.

 

_Because_ _maybe_ , _you're_ _gonna_ _be_ _the_ _one_ _that_ _saves_ _me_ / _And_ _after_ _all_ , _you're_ _my_ _wonderwall_

 

“I remember she used to sing it all of the time. It’s a sad song, but she liked it. It reminds me of her.”

Arya pulls his sleeve back down.

“How long ago did you lose her?”

“About four years, now. She only had a year to live after her diagnosis.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I like to think that she’s happier wherever she is now.”

Arya gives him a soft smile.

“I started coming back to school this year, with Bran. My father, who I had never met before, came to her funeral. He apparently runs a big company and he told me how sorry he was about my mom. I didn’t start talking to him until a few months ago. He had offered to pay for me to go back to school, but I told him to shove the money up his arse,” Arya gives Gendry a small laugh. “But, he has liver cancer. And it’s really bad, my half sister told me that I should try to have a relationship with him. It makes him feel like he’s doing a good deed by paying for me to go to school, and... I really fucking wanted to be an engineer.”

“I’m sure your mom is so proud of you.”

Gendry shakes his head. “I don’t... uh, I don’t think so,” he sighs.

“Why?”

"My mom and I had to work hard for everything I've ever had my whole life. I feel guilty about giving that up for some guy who says he's my father because he had sex with my mother when they were drunk. He wasn't... he wasn’t there when my mother and I almost starved to death one winter when I was in elementary school, or when I needed surgery so badly in middle school that my mother sold herself out to make enough to get the surgery, or when she was dying.”

“Oh...”

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to lay all this shit on you,” he sighs and wipes his eyes.

“I don’t mind,” she promises. “Sometimes it helps to just be able to talk about things.”

“I don't have a father. Robert Baratheon is nothing to me. I hate that I accepted guilt money from him. It’s an insult to her memory and an insult to everything she taught me to be.”

“I don’t know much about her, but I don’t think she would want you to hate yourself for this. You said that she wanted you to have a good life. You’re going to school for your dream. I don’t think she could be prouder of you,” Gendry gives her a small smile.

“Sometimes I miss her so much that it terrifies me,” he whispers.

"Why?”

"I don't believe in God. I know you do, so I’m not going to say anything else about it, but I’m scared that I won’t see her when I die, and that it's my punishment for not being religious."

“That doesn’t make you a bad person. You had a rough life, it’s easy to see why-”

“Arya,” he warns. “I don’t not believe in God because I think I had a shitty life. It was better than some. I don’t believe in God because I think my mother lived a shitty life. She was good and she was kind and now she’s dead.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to...”

“I know. I just... religion is a difficult subject for me. I think everyone should believe what they want, but I think it should be private. And I’m already predisposed to my beliefs. Er, non-beliefs? Whatever.”

“Sometimes I’m scared, too.” She reaches for Gendry’s hand. “I was raised as a Christian, and I still love and believe in God, but... I drink, I have sex, I only go to Church when I’m home with my dad, and I have tattoos. I wear tiny outfits to dance in front of hundreds of people. I cut my hair,” she adds.

Gendry gives her a gentle smile.

“Thank you, Arya.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“You did. You just let me talk about her. I needed to,” he assures. He gives her hand a squeeze.


	8. so far (it’s alright)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arya’s POV: finals week gets a little complicated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> time is going to move a lot faster from now on because the first seven chapters were just over a few months but now there will be noticeable time skips between chapters just please keep that in mind lol

 

 

**Yeah so far it's alright**  
**Alright, baby**  
**Yeah so far it's alright**  
**Alright, baby**  
**Yeah so far it's alright**  
**Alright, baby**  
**Yeah so far it's alright**  
**Alright**

**Yeah it's the way we are**  
**We were smoking by 11**  
**And knocking round town**  
**Bleeding bumps on my arm**  
**We were never good at selling**  
**Couldn't cut down**  
**And I stay with my father**  
**While his friends die of heart attacks**  
**He's got a heart made of stone**

**But he never gets cold because**

**The sun's always on his back**  
**"I used to think you were cool**  
**I believed you had a wonderful vision**  
**But I soon found out you were telling your friend**  
**That your mother's on the television"**  
**Gives a go on your bike**

**How you getting along with your life?**  
**It's alright**

**Yeah it's alright**

**Yeah so far it's alright**  
**Alright, baby**  
**Yeah so far it's alright**

**Alright, baby**  
**Yeah so far it's alright**

**Alright, baby**  
**Yeah so far it's alright**  
**Alright, baby**

**"Oh well I'm coming to the end of 23"**  
**She said**  
**"Is that alright?"**  
**"And it's coming to the end of you and me"**  
**She said**  
**"Is that alright?"**  
**And how can you complain about life**  
**And talk about being bored**  
**If you just sit at Pete's house**  
**Playing video games**  
**Doing sniff that you can't afford?**

**I can't be picking up in the town**  
**So get me one off Adam if he's sorting you out**  
**I don't really care what all your friends are about**  
**I was always looking for a way to get out**

**It's just a reflection on the size of your house**  
**A silver spoon and a zoot in your mouth**  
**But you're alright**

**Yeah, it's alright**

**Yeah so far it's alright**  
**Alright, baby**  
**Yeah so far it's alright**

**Alright, baby**  
**Yeah so far it's alright**  
**Alright, baby**  
**Yeah so far it's alright**  
**Alright**

**So here we are**  
**It's quarter to 11**  
**We're knocking round town**  
**I'm pushing in, in the bar**  
**You can cry until 11**  
**It's a quarter of an hour**  
**And why stay**  
**If you hate it so much?**  
**You think you're well cool**  
**You just write about sex and**

**Killing yourself**  
**And how you hardly ever went to school**  
**And don't you want to take me up in the clouds?**  
**Pretend that I'm the one**  
**And you can show me about?**  
**She was talking marriage**

**So we had to get out**  
**Now he's making up for it by sleeping about**  
**The ultimatum's a ridiculous joke**  
**I'm gonna pick the option that allows me to smoke**  
**But I'm alright**  
**Yeah it's alright**

**Yeah so far it's alright**  
**Alright, baby**  
**Yeah so far it's alright**  
**Alright, baby**  
**Yeah so far it's alright**  
**Alright, baby**  
**Yeah so far it's alright**  
**Alright, baby**

**So Far (It’s Alright) ~ The 1975**

_Arya_

“Can I have some of your fries?” Arya asks, already reaching across the table.

“Are you my girlfriend?”

“No?”

“Then, no.”

Arya scoffs. “Please?”

“You’re an adult. Buy your own damn fries.” Arya gives him a look and dramatically huffs as she stands to go to the cash register.

-

“When are you and Marg getting married?” Arya mocks.

“Oh, shut up. It’s only been three months, but I think we’re ready to take the next step.”

“Next step? Sansa, you had sex with her before you were together.”

“No, I mean I think we’re going to tell each we love each other.”

Arya smiles. “Awe, my big sister found herself a wife.”

“It’s been three months, Arya.”

“Still. You _loooove_ each other.”

Sansa shakes her head and rolls her eyes. “Keep still or I’m gonna mess up your nails,” she warns, squeezing Arya’s wrist. “Mom know about your tattoo yet?”

Arya sucks in a breath through her teeth. “Nope. But there’s nothing she can do about it now. And she can’t even be that mad about it anyway. It’s a ballerina the size of my pinky finger.”

“Okay,” Sansa tilts her head and winces.

“Mom know you’re a lesbian yet?” Arya retaliates.

“Well that’s a little easier to hide than a tattoo on my neck, so no, she does not.”

“How long do you think I could hide it for?”

“Probably a few days. Just wear your hair down.”

“Can you believe this semester ends tomorrow?”

“No. That’s probably why I’m painting your nails and not studying,” she groans.

“Right, sorry,” Arya laughs and reaches for her laptop. “What does HIPAA stand for and what is its purpose?”

“Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act? It stops personal health information from being spread without a reasonable cause.”

“Good,” Arya clicks the right arrow to show a new flashcard. “What is the Central Line’s proper name?”

“Central venous catheter.”

“Correct. Who is the best study partner?” Arya teases.

“Bran.”

Arya rolls her eyes. “Whatever. What is the likelihood Arya will fail her Calc final tomorrow?”

“100 percent,” Sansa sighs, reaching for Arya’s other hand.

-

“Yikes.”

“What?”

“I failed the Calc final,” Gendry groans.

“I got a 96 on the Calc final.”

“Excuse me, what the fuck?”

“I honestly have no idea how,” Arya admits. “Sansa thought I was gonna fail it, too.”

“Oh wait, I still passed the class!” He shouts and spins the chair to face her.

“Did you shag Professor Baelish, too?”

“Hahaha piss off.”

“Anyway... tomorrow is break, so as expected, I’m going home for the summer.”

“Yeah?”

“You can imagine why I’m here.”

“I’m starting to think you only want me for my body.”

“What gave you that impression?” She asks as she pulls at the hem of his shirt. He lifts his arms and shakes his head at her, with a stupid grin.

"Maybe," he grabs the back of her thighs, "it's because we haven't hung out in a month without shagging," he responds and pulls her forward so she falls into his lap.

"Oh, and did we hang out before?" She quips.

"Fair enough."

-

"For someone who said we weren't allowed to kiss, you sure do kiss me a lot."

"Not on your mouth," he remarks against her hip. “Wanna know what I can do with my tongue?"

"Yes," she sighs. Gendry lifts his head and sticks his tongue out to make the shape of a clover leaf. Arya rolls her eyes. "I can think of something better that you could do."

"Like this?" He asks and sticks his tongue out to touch the tip of his nose. Arya leans forward and smacks his forehead with the heel of her hand. He bats her hand away and laughs.

"What's the matter? You don't like my tongue tricks?" He sticks his bottom lip out and frowns.

"Not really."

"I'll show you my best trick yet," he promises. He kisses the outside of her thigh. Arya pulls her leg away and sits up. "Come on," he laughs. "I'm being serious this time." Arya crosses her arms. "Are you frustrated with me?" he mocks.

"Are you gonna do it or should I find someone else who will?" She grumbles.

"I'll do it," he protests and grabs her thigh. She tries to yank it away, but he doesn't falter his hold. Gendry leans up to push her shoulder to make her fall on her back. He pulls her leg over his head. "Gladly," he slides his tongue from her knee to her hip. Her breath catches when he bites the inside of her thigh. "Unless you know someone who'll do it better?"

"Unfortunately," she clears her throat. "I don't know anyone else who can make a clover leaf with their tongue. So I'm stuck with you," she says, trying to sound cocky. But when he puts his mouth on her she has to grab his hair to stop from crying out.

-

“I still can’t believe you got a 96 on the Calc final.”

”Are you jealous?”

”Uh, _yeah_. I got a 47 on it.”

”Sucks to suck,” she teases and steps out of Gendry’s room. She walks to the door of Gendry and Bran’s apartment, but the door opens before she has a chance to reach for the handle. Arya grimaces and tries to think of any place she could hide before Bran wheels into the apartment. 

“Arya?” He raises his eyebrows at her. 

“Hey, Bran. You’re back from class... early.”

“I live here. In case you’re unfamiliar with the concept, I leave to go do things. And then I come back here to eat and sleep.” Arya nods slowly. “What are you doing here?” Almost as if the idiot is on cue, Gendry walks from his room without his shirt. “Are you fucking kidding me?” Bran groans. 

“Hey, Bran,” Gendry winces.

“I just came over to-”

“Cut the shit, Arya. You’re my sister, I love you, but you’re way denser than you think.”

“I- what?”

“You hair looks like you stuck your finger in a light socket. Gendry’s lips are bigger than Kylie Jenner’s. I can’t walk, but I can still jump to conclusions just as well as anyone.”

“Bran-” Arya starts.

“Don’t ‘Bran’ me! You didn’t even like Gendry when you met him! You told me he was a prick!” Gendry raises his eyebrows and blinks. “He’s my _roommate_! We share a communal living space! You’re my sister!”

“I’m sorry...” Arya winces.

“I‘m so grossed out that I just don’t even know if I can be mad,” he sighs. “I thought the principle was just so well known that I didn’t even need to ask you to please not date my _roommate_.” Arya suddenly thinks of the “and they were rOoMmAtEs” vine, but knows that now would be an inappropriate time to giggle. 

“Would it make you feel any better to know that-”

”Probably not,” Bran responds. 

“Understandable. Are you gonna tell mom and dad that I’m having sex?”

”I’m dating a Jewish girl, Arya. Why on Earth would I tell them anything about your relationship when it will just fuck up mine?”

“Thank you.”

“I don’t even... I don’t really even care. But Gendry, our lease ends in August. You seriously have to move out if you stay with Arya.”

Gendry nods. “I was finding a new apartment, anyway,” he admits. “We had a good bromance going, and I didn’t want you to think me moving out had anything to do with you. But now that you know-”

”Unfortunately for me,” Bran mutters under his breath. 

 

 


	9. heartlines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gendry’s POV: summer events

 

 

 

 

**We could fool the datelines**  
**We could jump the statelines**  
**I don't always play nice**  
**But I wanna feel your heartlines**  
**I wanna feel your heart**

**Have you been let down by the ones before?**  
**Do you leave too soon to know?**  
**Never fell in love 'cause I just cut loose**  
**But not when it comes to you**

**Dressing in black, you're around for the weekend**  
**Dancing at night, you're the light that I won't let go**  
**And I want you close**

**We could fool the datelines**  
**We could jump the statelines**  
**I don't always play nice**  
**But I wanna feel your heartlines**  
**I'll pick you up at midnight**  
**We'll run to beat the sunlight**  
**We only get the one life**  
**And I wanna feel your heartlines**  
**I wanna feel your heart**

 

**Now we're far apart, in and out of touch**  
**And the words don't mean as much**  
**So I sit across from someone new**  
**But they don't compare to you**

**Lying in bed wide awake, I remember**  
**Dancing at night, you're the light that I won't let go**  
**And I want you close**

**We could fool the datelines**  
**We could jump the statelines**  
**I don't always play nice**  
**But I wanna feel your heartlines**  
**I'll pick you up at midnight**  
**We'll run to beat the sunlight**  
**We only get the one life**  
**And I wanna feel your heartlines**  
**I wanna feel your heartlines**

**Lying in bed wide awake, I remember**  
**I feel**  
**Dressing in black, you were here for the weekend**  
**And I won't let go**  
**'Cause I want you close**

**We could fool the datelines**  
**We could jump the statelines**  
**I don't always play nice**  
**But I wanna feel your heartlines**  
**I'll pick you up at midnight**  
**We'll run to beat the sunlight**  
**We only get the one life**  
**And I wanna feel your heartlines**  
**We could fool the datelines**  
**We could jump the statelines**  
**I don't always play nice**  
**But I wanna feel your heartlines**  
**I wanna feel your heartlines**  
**I wanna feel your heartlines**  
**I wanna feel your heart**

**Heartlines ~ Broods**

_Gendry_

**Arya: i’m heading up to school tomorrow to renew the lease with mine and sansa’s landlord are you busy or not**

**Gendry: not**

Gendry steps aside to let Arya into the apartment the next morning. They stand in a doorway for a moment, neither really knowing what to say. Generally, Arya would just jump him, but she seemed a little wary of where they stood now. They had only talked a few times since leaving for the summer because Arya's family lived three hours from the school. And Gendry didn't know how asshole-y it would have been to text her for a booty call when she did come down to the campus.

"Haven't seen you in a while," she comments. Gendry nods. "You didn't text."

"I just kind of thought we stopped all that over the summer," Gendry admits.

"If you want to stop-"

"No," he says, a little too quickly. "Unless you want to-"

"No."

"I just thought maybe you felt guilty about Bran and I didn't really know what to say, so..."

"Nah, he's okay, we have three older siblings and a younger brother, so he turned out to be the mellowest of us all. He still thinks that we're dating and I didn't really know how to tell him we... weren't," she grimaces a little at the word.

"Probably for the best," Gendry nods."Do you wanna catch up later?" he tilts his head and gives her a sly grin.

Arya grins back and pulls his shirt off. They don't waste any time tugging their clothes off and getting into Gendry's room.

-

"So, have you been seeing anyone?" Arya prods. Gendry rolls his eyes and grabs one of her shoulders. 

"No."

"Why?" Gendry pulls her hips against his and thrusts into her again. Her breath catches and she grasps the sheets in front of her.

"Been busy," he grunts, and trails his hands down her back to grip her thighs.

"With what?"

Gendry sighs. "You're naked in front of me and you want me to talk about my summer events?"

“I assumed you could multitask." Gendry huffs and pauses.

"I've been volunteering with the foster kids in the area, which really isn't something I want to think about right now. If I did, that would be called pedophilia and it's illegal. Happy?"

"Will you tell me about it later?"

"Later," he agrees, exasperated. He slides his hands to her hips. His fingers dig into her stomach when she clenches around him and she lets out a wince. Gendry pulls his hands back down to her thighs. "You okay?"

"Yeah, fine. I'm just sore from dance," she says.

"Rough practice?" He asks, and starts to move again.

"If we can't talk about your summer activities, then we can't talk about mine," she hisses.

"Fair enough." He bites the tattoo on the back of her neck and relishes in her gasp.

-

"Get up. I want to show you something," Gendry promises and pulls on a pair of gym shorts. 

"No need to be bashful Gendry. I know you're talking about your dick," she teases, but sits up anyway. 

Gendry clears his throat and tries to tone down his blush. "No," he hisses. "I want to take you somewhere."

"Like a date?" She grimaces.

"Are you my girlfriend?"

"No," she furrows her eyebrows at him. 

"Then it's not a date," he quips. Arya rolls her eyes and redresses. 

Gendry grabs his keys from the counter of the apartment he still shared with Bran. Most of his stuff was packed and ready for him to move out, but the lease here didn't end for another week, so he wasn't in a rush to move into a new apartment while Bran stayed at home for the summer and Bran's new roommate, Olyvar, wasn't moving in until the fall semester started. The campus was mostly empty save for some kids moving into their apartments early or the kids who stayed in their apartments year round, so Gendry got to park in the empty spots next to the building.

"You're a truck boy," Arya says when they make it to his truck.

"And you're a Honda Civic girl," he replies as he climbs in the driver seat. "What's that supposed to mean, anyway?"

Arya shrugs and climbs into the passenger seat. "Nothing."

"It means something to you," Gendry rolls his eyes.

"I bet you've had a lot of sex in this cab," she says and pats the seat next to her. She grimaces a little when realizing she just touched the seat and wipes it on her shorts.

Gendry blushes. "No," he protests. "You can't have sex in cars."

"This isn't a car. It's a truck. What you're saying is that you can still have sex in trucks."

"Stop talking."

"So, I was right," she mutters. "Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

"Nope, don't like that," she grumbles.

"Do you want a hint?" he teases.

"No, stop talking mhm mhm," she mimics.

About fifteen minutes into the half hour long drive, Arya incessantly jiggles her leg, which shakes the bench seat. Gendry rests his hand on her knee to stop her from jittering so much. Arya looks to his hand then to his face, and stares until he notices her. "Sorry," he pulls his hand back to the clutch. "It was bugging me," he resolves.

Arya raises her eyebrows quickly and lowers them again. "Are we almost there?"

Gendry groans. "You are the most impatient person I've ever met."

"You might think I should find that insulting, but it's endearing. It's just another way of saying I 'like to get shit done.'"

"Right. How long did it take you to write that essay last semester?"

"You know what? I did not come visit you to be bullied today. I came up here to tap and run."

"I'm sorry _what_?"

"Get fucked," she clarifies. Gendry can't help but snort. "Smash and dash. Nail and bail. Pounce and bounce-"

"I think I got it, thanks."

"I can keep going," she assures.

"No, really," he grins. "I got it," he shakes his head a little as he takes an exit off of the highway. "We'll be there in just a few minutes," he promises. Arya huffs and leans down in her seat like a kid. Gendry smiles again and pulls onto a little backroad.

"I've lived up here for two years and I still don't know where we are. What is this place?"

Gendry points to the park sign before he pulls into a parking lot. Arya had talked about going hiking before and she seemed to enjoy it, so Gendry hoped she would like it.

Not that he cared to impress her or anything. That would be stupid.

"I didn't bring anything for a hike," she frets.

"That's okay, I have some water bottles. And it's not really a hike, we're just going through that patch of trees." Arya smiles at him.

"My little brother is at boot camp for the summer because he wants to go into the army after he graduates, but we used to hike all the time last summer."

"Rickon?" Arya nods, clearly pleased that he had remembered her brother's name. Gendry leads her through the patch of trees and towards the small river.

"It's pretty here," she comments and follows him upstream. The walk is a lot farther than just past the trees, but Arya doesn't seem to mind. She obviously appreciates nature. They reach the small waterfall Gendry wanted to show her. He loved coming here because almost nobody was around except for park rangers, so if the weather was nice, he would come up here to study. The waterfall wasn't big enough to be a tourist attraction, but he still never came up here once it started getting late in the evenings. The water was loud enough that some couples would come here to fool around without getting caught.

He definitely didn't bring Arya for that, though. They were both home alone in their apartments so there was no reason for it. And besides, it was still daylight out so even if he had, he picked a dumb time, considering the park rangers didn't leave until sunset.

"How'd you find this place?"

Gendry shrugs. "I grew up like 40 minutes away, so I know a lot of places around here or my friends know and tell me." They take off their shoes and sit on a rock by the stream to put their feet in the water.

Arya smiles and reaches her hand into the small stream. Gendry makes the mistake of sitting too close to her, because the next thing he knows, his face is drenched in water. Arya laughs. Gendry leans forward to splash her too, but she leans out of the way just in time and he only splashes her arms. Arya laughs again, but before she can splash him, Gendry leans forward to grab her wrist. Arya yanks her arm forward and Gendry almost loses his balance and falls in. Gendry rolls his eyes and grins. "You know, I'm starting to regret bringing you here," he teases.

"Why? Is it because you're horrible at splash-back?" she taunts.

"No, it's because-" Gendry abruptly pushes Arya into the stream. "Now the seat of my truck is going to be soaking wet," he says as Arya gasps from the shock. She tries to give him a mean look, but he can still see the smile in her eyes when he doesn't even stop her from pulling him in.

"Good, you deserve it," she mocks and splashes Gendry again.

They swim in the shallow water for a while, managing to stay close to the rock that they had set their things on, but the sun was starting to set and their clothes were starting to get too cold to stay in the water. "Do you have any towels in your truck?" Arya asks. Gendry grimaces a little. "I didn't think we were gonna go swimming," he admits.

"Well, I was shoved, so it's technically all of your fault," she teases as she wrings out her hair. 

-

Gendry pulls off onto the highway's exit ramp and asks "Did you get your lease signed this morning?"

"Yeah, the landlord said he only needed me or Sansa to come up and renew it, and then the other could sign it when they came up for school. 

"I move into my-"

"Woah, woah, wait." Arya cuts him off and reaches for the radio. "Is this what I think it is?" She asks and turns the volume up. "I love this song!"

"What is it?"

Arya groans and turns the volume up some more. "It's 'Heartlines' by Broods" she states, as if it were something Gendry should've already known.

"I've never heard it," he admits.

"Of course you haven't. You have trash music taste," she shrugs. Gendry starts to retaliate, but Arya unbuckles her seatbelt. ( **A/N PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DONT DO THIS IS REAL LIFE THIS IS JUST FOR THE EDGE FACTOR OKAY)**

"Hey, hey, what are you doing?" He hisses as she turns around in the seat. She unlatches the cab's window. "No! Arya, sit back down!" He shouts, trying to watch Arya and pay attention to the road he just pulled onto.

"Calm down, I used to do this with Jon all the time!" She shimmies out of the open window and pulls herself into the truck bed. "Turn the song up!" She yells.

"Arya, get back in the truck!"

"I'm still in the truck!" She argues.

Gendry reluctantly turns the volume knob up and tries to continue driving. If Arya wanted to sit in the bed of his truck, he would just drive carefully. She was such an idiot.

He glances in his rearview mirror to see Arya pulling herself into a standing position. "Hey! No! Sit back down!" Arya rolls her eyes and grabs onto the roof of his truck. When she stands with each foot planted firmly on the bed, she lets go of the roof to hold her arms out at her side. "Arya! What the fuck is wrong with you? Sit back down!"

"Live a little, grandpa!" She shouts down. " _I'll pick you up at midnight, we'll run to beat the sunlight, we only get the one life and I wanna feel your heartlines_!" she sings along to the lyrics. Gendry tries not to panic as he waits for Arya to get back into the cab of his truck. He tries to avoid braking or speeding up, which is probably pissing off the cars behind him. The song ends after what feels like forever and Arya pulls herself back into the cab and buckles her seatbelt like nothing happened.

"What the _fuck_ is wrong with you?" He grumbles, again.

Arya shrugs. "We only get the one life," she references the song. "You can't just be boring and waste it. And you were driving really slow."

"You could have fallen off," he protests.

"But I didn't."

Gendry shakes his head. This girl would be the death of him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it took me forever to update ik!! my science competition is in less than two weeks, so i will not be updating again until around April 1st, either! :(( I have this chapter and then before I leave, I will try to post another chapter to keep y’all sustained for the two weeks that i won’t be writing lol! but don’t worry when I get back, it will be back to business, but i’m also applying for a new job so life right now is a lil stressful! all along i wanted to finish it before season 8 but like damn b that ish is in one month TODAY so yeahhhh that’s not gonna happen lol


	10. unholy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arya’s POV: arya’s birthday and halloween celebrations!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fair warning this chapter has smut lmao

 

**I'm having thoughts all the time, you and I, and they won't go away**  
**But I kinda like what it's like in my mind and I don't wanna be saved**  
**Every night, I'm undressed, and with him and I'm thinking of you**  
**Yeah, I know it's the wrong thing to do, but I kinda want to**

**Say your name while our tongues are tied**  
**Getting shivers all down my spine**  
**We're in bed, we're in bed, yeah, in my mind**

**Don't say it's unholy**  
**If I let you come hold me**  
**I know it's wrong that I want to be here in your arms**  
**But tonight I'm so lonely**  
**Don't say it's unholy**  
**If I let you come hold me**  
**I know it's wrong that I want to be here in your arms**  
**Oh, come on and show me**  
**Don't say it's unholy**  
**Unholy**  
**Unholy**  
**Oh, come on and show me**

**If he knew what I thought about you, it would break his heart**  
**And I wish that I could, but I can't make the fantasies stop**  
**Everybody's downstairs, I can hear them talking through the floor**  
**So convenient for you to pull me into a room and lock the door**

**Say you want me and don't be nice**  
**Send those shivers running down my spine**  
**We're in bed, we're in bed, yeah, in my mind**

**Don't say it's unholy**  
**If I let you come hold me**  
**I know it's wrong that I want to be here in your arms**  
**But tonight I'm so lonely**  
**Don't say it's unholy**  
**If I let you come hold me**  
**I know it's wrong that I want to be here in your arms**  
**Oh, come on and show me**  
**Don't say it's unholy**  
**Unholy**  
**Unholy**  
**Oh, come on and show me**

**Oh, now we're face to face**  
**Oh, and my heart is racing**  
**Oh, I can taste temptation**  
**(I know that you like it, you don't even have to hide it)**  
**Oh, now we're face to face**  
**Oh, and my heart keeps racing**  
**Oh, I can taste temptation**  
**(I know that you like it)**

**Don't say it's unholy**  
**If I let you come hold me**  
**I know it's wrong that I want to be here in your arms**  
**But tonight I'm so lonely**  
**Don't say it's unholy**  
**If I let you come hold me**  
**I know it's wrong that I want to be here in your arms**  
**Oh, come on and show me**  
**Don't say it's unholy**  
**Unholy**  
**Unholy**  
**Oh, come on and show me**  
**Don't say it's unholy**  
**Unholy**  
**Unholy**  
**Oh, come on and show me**

**Unholy ~ Hey Violet**

_Arya_

Arya pants on top of Gendry and lets out a cry when he starts to move his hips to her speed. She shoves his shoulders and pushes him onto his back, leaving his hands to hover over her hips. Her hands press down on his chest and she uses them to push herself up and down against his thrusts. He brings one of his hands up to her breasts, rolling his thumb over the nipple. She lets out a groan and gasps for breath as she rolls her hips over his. "Fuck," she hisses as he trails his other hand to rub her between her thighs.

"You say 'Fuck' a lot," he grunts, pushing himself back up.

"Shut the _fuck_ up," she hisses, and pushes him back down. He smirks at her and she rolls her eyes before closing them again. "You're _fucking_ annoying."

"Why?" Gendry props himself up on his elbows. He tugs her thighs forward and presses her chest to his, pushing himself deeper into her. She bites the side of her lip to keep from reacting, knowing he would revel in the sound. "You seem to like me just fine," he taunts.

"I don't like you," she hisses. "I like fucking you," she shifts her hip against him to prove it. He slides his hand up her back and pulls the hair at the nape of her neck. She lifts her head and he kisses her neck. Arya digs her nails into his shoulders, causing him to bite her collarbone in retaliation. "Stop biting my neck," she grumbles as she pulls his hair to move his head out from under her chin. "It leaves marks."

"Fine.” He leans down and bites the side of one of her breasts. Arya sucks in a breath and rocks her hips forward. Gendry grabs her thighs to thrust against her and soothes the bite with his tongue. Arya runs her fingers through his hair and tugs it when his mouth finds her nipple.

His hands move from her thighs to her hips, and he digs his fingers into them. He pushes and pulls at her hips until she finally stops moving and gives him control. His lips turn into a smirk against her and she rolls her eyes, resisting the urge to yank his hair for being cocky. He lets go of one side to rub her clit and she groans. Warmth pools in her stomach and she lets out a cry as she pulses around him. "Fuck!" Her chest goes limp against him and he follows, digging his fingers into her hips again. He flops down onto his back and Arya lets out a breathless laugh. "Your apartment is now christened," she huffs.

"I think you used that in the wrong context," he sighs and pats Arya's thigh to signal her to get off of his lap. She groans a little at the loss of him, even though she can’t be sure that she'll walk right tomorrow.

-

"You never did tell me about volunteering this summer."

"I was volunteering with foster kids," he says, flatly.

"Yeah, you told me that, but you didn't tell me about it."

He shrugs. "Tutoring, mostly. I went over some college applications with some kids, helped them edit their essays. Do you wanna know something sad?" He asks. Arya doesn't want to hear something sad, but she knows Gendry asked because he wants to talk about it, so she gives him a soft smile. "A lot of the kids that I helped with their college applications didn't apply yet because they didn't know what mailing address to put on the form. Should they put the address of their foster home now or should they put the center's address? They might be moved out of that home before they hear back, but the center might lose track of the application responses.”

"That is sad,” she sighs. She had been blessed with a family that was able to care for her, and her heart hurt to know not everyone was lucky. “What’s ‘the center’?"

"It's basically just like a safehouse for foster kids. It’s volunteer run, so they can’t keep kids there overnight or anything, but if something happens in their foster home and they need to leave they can go to the center and their social worker is contacted. But they can also go there for tutoring or to use the computers for homework or sometimes they have little support meetings. Those aren't usually a big hit," he flits his eyebrows and sighs. "I never told you I was fostered for a while," he says.

"No," Arya shakes her head.

"Well, I was." Arya waits for him to elaborate. He doesn't. "I wanted to do something with my summer while I was working at the auto shop that wasn't taking another fucking math class, so I thought maybe I should volunteer there. I'm not great with little kids just because I didn't really know how to talk to them, but I wasn't scared of the older kids so I mostly worked with them. Some of them looked like they wanted to eat my heart out the first time I met them, but by my last day, they were joking around with me."

"That's good!" Arya gives him a bright smile. He smiles back and nods. Arya wants to keep talking about it, but Gendry shifts the attention away from him.

"How was your summer?

Arya shrugs. "My old dance teacher started his own dance studio and asked me to work with him. I was only an assistant, but I taught the middle schoolers, and I remembered how much I hated middle school and middle schoolers," she teases. "It was a coed class, so the 'star' couple kept trying to be the center of each dance routine, which was so annoying. You should never date your dance partner." She advises him. "If I tried to make either of them work with someone else they would throw a fit, and I just wanted to be like 'Oh my God, you're eleven, you're going to break up next month, dance with someone else,' but Syrio told me I had to work around it." Arya rolls her eyes and Gendry laughs.

"I only worked with the high schoolers, thank God. I don’t think I could handle any middle schoolers.”

"I would've been fine with the little kids or even the high schoolers, but all of the other classes had enough assistants when I came up for the summer, so I got stuck with the kids no one wanted," she groans.

“Did you like it?”

”Of course. I got to do two of my favorite things: dance and boss people around. I felt kind of guilty about being bossy though because they were just kids, but I totally bitched out any kids who were mean to the ones that weren’t as good as them. Some of them started dance late, like me, and we just need a little more support which is hard to get when the more experienced kids are picking on you.”

"You could be a good dance instructor," he remarks. “Like after you graduate.”

Arya raises her eyebrows. "Really?"

He nods. "You're definitely strict enough, but you can be fun. And you love to dance and boss people around, so it would be a great job for you.”

"I never really thought about it," she admits. "I always just thought about performing, but I never wanted to think about would happen when I got too old or if I got hurt. I just wanted to perform. Other than the middle schoolers from hell, I did really enjoy it, though. The kids were fun and I loved the little recital they put on before I came back to school. Some of the toddlers were trying really hard, but then the others just sat down and waited for the song to end," she smiles fondly at the memory. "I think you might be right about something, Gendry. That's a rare thing,” she teases.

"Whatever," he rolls his eyes.

 -

"You're wearing a dress," he says and hands her the small gift bag. Arya rolls her eyes.

"I wear dresses," she says, "I just don't wear them all the time."

"Why not?"

Arya shrugs. "They're harder to function in. Are you gonna tell me Happy Birthday or are you gonna keep staring at me like I have three heads?"

"Happy birthday," he says and hands her a small bag. Arya smiles a little and accepts the gift.

"Pepperspray?" She smirks at him. "We went over this, I can handle myself," she insists.

“It’s bear spray,” he corrects. 

“Why would you get me bear spray instead of pepperspray?”

"Well, you know, you can't really punch a bear, so in case you're ever in that situation, you have bear spray."

"Well, thank you for stopping me from punching any rabid bears in the future. I try to avoid punching animals, though."

"Or you can use it to spray that creep in your statistics class," he suggests.

"I think that might be illegal."

"I'm pretty sure ninety percent of what he does is illegal already, so really... you would just be balancing his life out."

"Did I tell you he tried to hit on my sister?"

"No! Gross."

"I know. Everyone knows my sister is dating Margaery. Except for my parents,” she grimaces.

"Your sister's dating Margaery?" 

"Oh my God, Gendry. We've been hanging out for six months. At least five months and 29 days of those six months my sister has been dating Margaery."

"I wouldn't really say we hang out," he teases.

"Really? What do we do then?" She sets the bag down on the coffee table and takes a step closer to him. Gendry pulls at the side of her dress until he can ball the hem into a fist at her hip.

"This."

-

“Happy Birthday,” he teases. Arya lets out a breathless laugh and fixes the skirt of her dress. It was all wrinkled now, but Arya didn’t really care. She wasn’t going back out for the night, anyway. Gendry picks up his jeans to redress and Arya leans over to pinch his ass. “Hey! I’ve been nice to you all day!” He protests and turns his back away from her. "The least you could do is return the favor."

Arya laughs manically. “I couldn’t help myself. It’s too cute,” she jests. Gendry rolls his eyes and buttons his jeans.

“My butt’s not cute. I’m a guy.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to insult your man feelings by calling your ass cute. How horrible of me,” she mocks.

“You are horrible. Absolutely horrible,” his face grows into a smile. “Pinching me when my back is turned. That’s just not right,” he says, sarcastically. Arya laughs again and straightens her ponytail. She had kept it short all through high school, but she didn’t realize that she liked to keep it just long enough to tie back when it was bothering her, until she didn’t have time for a haircut during her first year of college. Gendry starts to pull on his shirt, but whips his head around to Arya’s bedroom door.

“Happy Birthday, Arya!" Sansa calls as she unlocks the apartment door.

"Shit! Shit!” Sansa was supposed to have a test this afternoon and wasn’t meant to be home for another hour. Arya stands up from her bed and tries to smooth out her dress. “She’s home early!” Arya groans.

"Do you want me to go out the fire escape?” Gendry asks, and Arya isn’t sure if the idiot is kidding or not.

"Jesus, Gendry, what are you? A harlot?” Gendry shrugs. Arya rolls her eyes and explains that Sansa wouldn't care about this and tells him to just come out the front door. Arya shamefully opens her bedroom door and walks out to greet Sansa.

“My baby sister is finally twenty!” Sansa coos and gives Arya a bear hug. Arya grins a little and hugs Sansa back.

“I’m like a full adult now,” Arya teases. Sansa smiles back before she looks Arya’s bedroom door.

"Oh. Hey Gendry?" Sansa furrows her eyebrows and sets the dessert she was holding on the counter. Sansa had started the tradition where on Arya's birthday, she would buy them a giant cupcake to share because she couldn't bake. Arya used to help her mom make all of the birthday cakes when they were children, but her mother wasn’t a great cook either, so Arya took over the birthday cake responsibly when she was thirteen. Sansa insisted that Arya could not make her own birthday cake, so for the last few years, she bought a lemon cake cupcake for the two of them. Sansa looks between Arya and Gendry again.

Gendry gives her an awkward smile and adjusts his shirt. "Hi, Sansa," he acknowledges her and grabs his keys from the coffee table. “I was just giving Arya her birthday gift,” he clarifies, unnecessarily.

Arya makes eye contact with Sansa before Sansa eyes Gendry again. Gendry squirms a little under her gaze and turns to leave, desperate to escape the encounter. Sansa looks at Arya and raises her eyebrows before tilting her head in approval.

" _Tank_?" She questions.

"Huh?" Gendry raises his eyebrows. Arya nearly chokes. Gendry leans over to pat Arya’s back. “Are you okay?”

"I'm good," she splutters and hits her chest with her fist while Sansa calmly stares at her, waiting for confirmation. Arya catches her breath and grabs Gendry’s bicep. She leads him to the apartment door and gives him a pained smile. "See you later, Gendry," she tells him and shuts the door behind him. Arya puts her back to the door and slides down it. Fucking Sansa.

"It _was_ him.” Sansa emphasizes and nods her head again. “He’s cute,” she says.

"Sansa!" Arya hisses.

“Birthday gift?” Sansa repeats and waggles her eyebrows. 

“Not _that_ kind! Well... I guess that kind, too, but he really did bring me a gift!”

Sansa smirks, and opens up the cupcake container. “I might not like boys, but I can be sure that his package is an added plus.”

Arya turns red and hides her face. _Stop talking stop talking stop talking stop-_

“Awwe, are you embarrassed?” Sansa teases.

"You couldn't have waited until he was gone to ask, though?" Arya hisses.

"Like he knew what I meant," Sansa rolls her eyes and hands Arya a fork. “I knew something was up with someone, though! I was trying to give you some space about it because I thought if you wanted me to know you would've told me, but you're dating Gendry? Why didn't you tell me?" Arya blushes again. The only thing fucking Gendry has brought to her life is mortification at this point.

"This is where it gets messy," she grumbles. "Bran thinks we're dating, too, because one time he caught me leaving their apartment and we couldn't tell him that we were just..." Arya raises her eyebrows.

"Oh my God."

"Yeah, but I didn't tell you because there wasn't really anything to tell. We don't like each other or want to date or anything, but we do have a lot of sex."

“Arya Stark! I like to know these things! I kind of had a feeling that it was Gendry that weekend when you were limping, but just because someone’s a big person doesn’t mean their-“

“Stop! This is the worst conversation of my life!”

“Oh come on,” Sansa grumbles. “I tell you all the details of me and Margaery-“

“Especially the things I don’t want to know!”

“It’s only fair that you tell me the same stuff.”

“Why did God find it necessary to give me you for a sister?” Arya mutters.

“Oh, piss off. You _looove_ me,” she teases. Arya rolls her eyes and finally leaves her hiding place by the door.“Are you bringing Gendry to Margaery’s Halloween party tomorrow night?” Sansa asks.

“We’re not together,” Arya insists.

“Bran is going to be there, though, and if you and Gendry aren’t there together, don’t you think he’ll be suspicious?”

Arya mulls the thought over. She kept forgetting about Bran’s limited knowledge on their relationship, but could not think of a worse thing to tell the poor guy about his old roommate.

“I’ll ask him,” she finally complies and Sansa grins.

-

“Arya says that you didn’t know I was a lesbian!” Sansa shouts over the Halloween music. Sansa and Margaery had wanted to do a devil-angel costume, but couldn’t decide who was who (Arya thought Sansa was definitely meant to be the devil) so they had flipped a coin. They originally wanted to dress as Piper and Alex from Orange is the New Black, but Arya had reminded Sansa that if any pictures were posted to instagram, it wouldn’t be difficult for their parents to find out what Sansa and Margaery had dressed as. Sansa is dressed in a white miniskirt and a holographic top with white leather boots and a small halo on her head. Margaery flits around the party in a skin tight red dress with devil horns and black thigh high boots and fishnet stockings.

“I did not!” Gendry shamefully admits.

“Does it bother you?”

“Only if you like the same girls I do. I’d have no chance, then!”

Sansa turns to Arya and smirks a little. Arya rolls her eyes, annoyed that Sansa still had some coherence. “I don’t think that’s going to be a problem, Gendry!”

“Sansa!” Arya warns. Arya was determined that she would not blush. Sansa knew that Gendry did not like Arya and yet here she was, trying to come on to Arya for Gendry. Sansa rolls her eyes teasingly and points to Margaery.

“The sexy little devil in dominatrix boots is my girlfriend!” Sansa brags. Gendry grins at her and Arya groans beside him. “What? She’s the sexiest girl at the party!” Sansa insists.

“I think you’ve had enough wine coolers for the night!” Arya laughs. Margaery approaches and wraps her arms around Sansa’s waist.

“What are you talking about, love?”

“I’m just telling Gendry here how sexy you are!” Gendry smiles painfully and gives Margaery a small wave.

“I think you should drink some water!” Margaery says with a laugh. Sansa viciously shakes her head. Margaery grabs her hand anyway and leads her into the kitchen anyway.

Arya turns to face Gendry and pulls his ear down to her level. “How down are you for locking me in a room right now?”

“Not down enough,” he teases, gesturing to Bran wheeling towards them with Meera at his side. Meera was dressed as Yoko Ono and Bran wore a John Lennon outfit with “Make Love Not War” on copy paper taped onto the back of his wheelchair.

“What are you supposed to be?” Bran opens the conversation. Arya had splattered red paint on one of her old dresses and found Gendry a tuxedo T-shirt from the thrift store right outside of their campus.

“Carrie White and Tommy Ross,” she emphasizes by gesturing between the two.

“I love it!” Meera smiles and pulls her sunglasses off to prop them in her hair. Bran smiles a little, but tries to contain it. He and Arya hadn’t discussed her relationship with Gendry since he basically kicked Gendry out, but he seemed a little tense to see them together.

Arya takes a step away from Gendry and pretends like she’s getting closer to Meera to talk to her. “It was super easy, I just bought some craft paint and then put red hairspray I found at the dollar store for my hair!”

Meera smiles again and tries to adjust her sunglasses, but they tangle in her curls. Bran looks at her and just laughs, but Meera attempts to tug them free. She sighs dramatically and leaves them to dangle.

“How do I look babe?” She teases and looks at Bran.

“Amazing. I would definitely recommend that look for everyday life,” he grins.

“I’m gonna go find a mirror, be right back!” She promises and leaves Gendry and Arya alone with Bran.

“Well this is awkward,” Arya mutters. Gendry gives her a look to tell her to shut up and asks Bran how he likes his new roommate.

“He isn’t doing my sister, so he seems like a pretty cool guy,” Bran says, straight faced.

Gendry’s eyes widen and he nods. “Fair enough.”

”I’m kidding!” Bran groans. “Jesus you two, lighten up! You act like I hate you both now! It’s been six months, I’m over it. To be honest, I was over it in six minutes,” he admits. "Now the only thing I'm upset about is that I never actually got an Elvis Presley vinyl." Arya furrows her eyebrows.

"Huh?"

Gendry chuckles awkwardly. "Oh, yeah. When you left your dance hoodie at the apartment one time, Bran found it and I said you were checking out his vinyls to figure out which ones he didn't have yet." Arya shoves his shoulder.

"Idiot! You should've told me. Sorry, Bran," Arya mutters. "I'll get it for you for Christmas," she promises.

“Yeah, you better," he warns with a smile. "But really, I don’t care. Do what you want, I just don’t like it when it happens in my living space.”

Arya smiles. “Well, you’re in luck, then. Gendry’s new apartment has a lot of non communal living space.”

”Okay, that was an overshare,” he protests as Gendry blushes beside her. 

“I agree with Bran,” Gendry grumbles. Arya shrugs and ruffles her little brother’s hair. 

“It wasn’t unprompted,” she insists. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a filler chapter sorry! :/ i wanted to give you guys a little update before i leave and the next chapter is not even 1/4 done so it’s gonna be a while before i can post that but i promise it will be posted! at this point i think i have about 18 chapters planned but I know this will have at least 15 for sure so I’m hoping i can buckle down and finish this by s8!


	11. she's casual

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gendry's POV: gendry’s friends see right through his bullshit and also an open door leads to some mixed information

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> um yeah i’m just as surprised as you are that i updated?? i got back from my competition last night and i was like hmm what should i do that isn’t actual work (i’m so far behind in school but its fine im fine everythings fine)

**And every night I feel the same**  
**My girl turns and walks away**  
**Every time I hear her name**  
**It's without her**

**And all she does is play these games**  
**It's always been her claim to fame**  
**Every time I hear her name**  
**It's disaster**

**She makes my heartbeat go faster**  
**The thing is I trust her**

**Because she's casual, she likes it**  
**Mine and she knows it**  
**Gives when I need it**  
**Says to me "Can you feel it?"**  
**She's casual but she don't mind**

**And from the dark to the morning light**  
**She waits beside me and I know that I will feel alright**  
**She's all I want to see**  
**She won't ask why**  
**I look in her eyes**  
**I think I've been looking for you all my life**  
**And you ask me what I've been doing with my time**  
**I've been searching for you, baby**  

**Because she's casual, she likes it**  
**Mine and she knows it**  
**Gives when I need it**  
**Says to me "Can you feel it?"**  
**She's casual but she don't mind**

**She makes my heartbeat go faster**  
**The thing is I trust her**  
**She makes my heartbeat go faster**  
**The thing is I trust her**

**Because she's casual, she likes it**  
**Mine and she knows it**  
**Gives when I need it**  
**Says to me "Can you feel it?"**  
**She's casual but she don't mind**

**Because she's casual, she likes it**  
**Mine and she knows it**  
**Gives when I need it**  
**Says to me "Can you feel it?"**  
**She's casual but she don't mind**

**Because he's casual, she likes it**  
**Mine and she knows it**  
**Gives when I need it**  
**Says to me "Can you feel it?"**

**She's Casual ~ The Hunna**

  _Gendry_

“It’s my turn to deal.”

“Shut up, Hot Pie, you’re shit at dealing,” Anguy hisses and reaches for the deck of cards.

Hot Pie’s mouth falls open. “I am not-”

“I can’t play another round, actually. I have to go,” Gendry says and cuts their argument off.

Anguy stares blankly at Gendry. “You don’t have to be at work until 4,” he finally says.

“I need to pick Arya up from her audition,” Gendry clarifies and pulls his jacket on.

“Whipped,” Anguy grumbles and starts to put the cards back into their box.

“I’m not whipped,” Gendry says. “Her sister dropped her off this morning and now she just needs someone to pick her up.”

“You do whatever she wants when she wants, you get a stupid smile on your face when you talk about her, and you don’t even tell me the good details. That’s whipped.”

“Maybe he just values her as a person. Or he doesn’t give you any details because he respects her,” Hot Pie argues. _Thanks Hot Pie._

“Shut up, Hot Pie,” Anguy narrows his eyes at him. “What do you know about anything?”

“He knows that I’m not whipped,” Gendry argues.

“If you weren’t whipped you would tell me about that thing she did with her-”

“That was three months ago! You’re still on that?”

“Well you brought it up and then you never told me what it was! Do you know what it’s like to have to live in the dark for three months about something that I could benefit from knowing?”

Gendry grimaces a little. “Fine. I’ll tell you." Anguy grins and leans forward. Before Gendry can speak, the look on Anguy’s face changes his mind. “Never mind. Hot Pie's right. I respect her.” He pauses. “Also she scares me, a little," he admits.

“Come on, just tell me,” Anguy nags. “I've only heard good things about ballerinas.”

Gendry rolls his eyes. "Maybe you should try flirting with Ned Dayne, then.”

"I’ll pass.”

“Keep dreaming, Anguy. There's someone out there for you, too," he assures and pats Anguy on the back.

"Arya isn't for you!" he argues. "She just lets you fuck her."

"That's funny. Do you want me to tell Arya you said that she just lets me fuck her?"

Anguy grimaces. "No," he finally says.

Gendry grins. "You're scared of a ballerina."

"I'm not fucking scared of her! Your girlfriend's just psycho-"

" _Shut_ _up_ , Anguy," Hot Pie finally pipes up, exasperated. "Arya's actually very nice. You're just a prick to everyone." 

"Thanks, Hot Pie. And she's not my girlfriend." Hot Pie just shrugs. "Hey. Hey, I thought you were on my side,” Gendry protests.

Hot Pie shakes his head. "I'm Switzerland. Anguy's just being dumb. But so are _you_. Now go or you’re gonna be late getting her, and I know she won’t like that!” Gendry nods and leaves Hot Pie’s apartment.

He finds his truck and drives to the address Arya had sent him earlier. She was auditioning for a part in the spring recital, and said that she would probably die if she tried to walk home from it because she had been there since 8:00 that morning. He thought about going inside, but didn’t know if she would still be dancing or if she was expecting him to wait outside for her. While he was debating on what to do, Arya steps out of the auditorium. She sees him and shakes her shoulders for a second with a smile on her face. Her hair was starting to fall out of her bun around her flushed face from all of the dancing she had done today. She climbs into the truck and tugs her pink sweater off, revealing her plain black leotard underneath. Gendry wanted to tell her how ridiculously beautiful she looked even after sweating for five hours, but instead he settled for, “You look hot.”

Arya grins at him and shrugs. “I always do,” she says and pushes the sweater into her bag.

Gendry nods. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you wear anything pink before.”

Arya rolls her eyes. “I wear pink, I just think it’s boring.”

“You’re a ballerina who hates pink? How did you make it this far?”

“I don’t hate pink. I just know I’m better than it,” she teases. Gendry shakes his head at her and lets out a small chuckle. Arya slides over in her seat, a little closer to Gendry. “My apartment is empty until later tonight, by the way.”

“Didn’t you say that you were gonna be so tired you would die if you tried to walk?”

“I’ve been stressed out for the last two days. I’m definitely not too tired for a good fuck.”

Gendry’s eyes widen and he tilts his head. “Oh my God,” he says.

“Oh come on, you’re such a wimp!” She teases. “You act like you’re gonna get in trouble every time I say something like that! Stop blushing, it’s not like my dad is gonna hear me,” she mocks.

“I’m not blushing!” Gendry protests. “And put your seatbelt on,” he says and shifts his truck into reverse to back out of the parking spot.

“Are you in a hurry to get back to my apartment then?” She teases, scooting back into her spot and reaching for the seatbelt. Gendry just shakes his head and starts driving.

-

"Fuck," Arya hisses as she drops her head down to her forearms and lets out a sigh. She arches her back and Gendry pulls the hair off of her neck and brushes her tattoo with his thumb. His fingers trail to the inside of her shaking thigh as he leans forward to kiss Arya between her shoulder blades. She turns her head to look at him out of the corner of her eye. “Don't you ever get bored of looking at my back?" she teases. "Is my face ugly?" She smirks and Gendry laughs.

"Your tits, too. And your cunt. Horrible to look at it," he quips, and pushes her hips until she moves to lay on her back. "If you want to look at me, you could get on top," he offers, shifting his knees to kneel upright.

Arya shakes her head. "That's too much work," she teases as she moves to her knees as well. Gendry chuckles and pulls her up against his chest. She wraps her arms around his head and tries not to smile. He slides his hands to her breasts and bites her neck. "Why are you trying to mark me?" She teases. "Am I yours?"

"You're not anyone's," he replies, after soothing the bite with his tongue.

"Good ans-" Gendry eyes go wide when he looks up at the sound of the door opening to see someone's traumatized look from the apartment doorway. Arya turns her head and chokes back a laugh.

"Oh my God. Oh my God!" The man shouts as he exits and slams the door. Gendry pulls his hands away from her and unlatches her arms. He scrambles away from Arya as she checks her phone. "Hey Arya, I'm coming back to the apartment, what time will you be ready for dinner?" She reads the text aloud as Gendry pulls on his briefs and jeans.

“Who was that?” 

“My brother,” Arya says with a shrug. Gendry groans on the inside and searches for his socks and shirt.

"We should've closed your bedroom door," Gendry hisses. Her door was in line with the apartment door across the living room.

"What! What happened?" Gendry hears Sansa shout, before barging into the apartment and into Arya's room. Sansa eyes flit over Gendry hastily dressing and back to Arya, calmly kneeling on her bed, not even bothering to cover anything waist up. "Oh my God, Arya. What did poor Robb see?" Arya grabs a shirt from the floor. Sansa stifles a laugh.

Gendry pulls his shirt on, and grabs his shoes from Arya's floor. "I'm gonna go." He says, trying to squeeze past Sansa in the doorway.

"No, you're not," Robb scolds, "Sit down. We need to talk to Arya," he yells from behind the apartment door.

"Robb! You don't need to do anything. I'm twenty years old!"

"Well, how old is he?"

Arya turns to him. When he doesn't say anything, Arya says "Twenty-three. Why's it matter?"

"Why does it matter? You're basically still a child!" Robb shouts, still hiding behind the door.

Arya groans and pulls a pair of shorts on. "You want to talk? Fine, let's talk!" Arya storms into the living room and Robb approaches her.

"What would Mom and Dad say?" He groans.

"They won't say anything because you're not going to tell them! If you tell them, I'll tell them that you and Talisa did anal before you got married because it's not technically wrong according to the bible!" Gendry tries not the laugh at her threat.

"That's not tr- How do you even come up with- Fine! I won't tell Mom and Dad, but he can either marry you or you can break up today!" Gendry lets out a snort, but quickly tries to cover it with a cough. "That's funny to you? You've... you violated my sister!" Now it's Arya's turn to laugh. "What's funny about losing your virtue before marriage?"

"Violated?" Arya could barely contain her cackle, and the look of disappointment on Robb's face only made her laugh harder. "Virtue?"

"How long have you been dating my sister?" Robb demands from Gendry.

"I think you mean fucking. We're not dating," Arya says. Gendry blushes and tries to understand why on Earth Arya felt it was necessary to say that.

"That's even worse! I can't believe you're going to treat Mom and Dad this way! They raised all of us to be respectable adults, but instead you-you're-"

"Having premarital sex? You're the only one in our family who followed that stupid rule!" She says, wiping tears from her eyes after breathing out her final laugh. Robb turns to look at Sansa, who quickly avoids his gaze.

"Sansa? Is that true?" Sansa doesn't respond and purses her lips. "And Bran?" Arya nods. "And Rickon? He's only seventeen!"

"Well, probably not Rickon, yet," Arya shrugs.

"Oh my God! Mom and Dad would be ashamed of all of you! I can't even begin to describe my disappointment," he sits down on armrest of the couch.

"Yeah, disappointment in all of the missed shags you could've had when you were the star football player in high school."

"Arya, that's enough," Sansa groans.

Robb covers his face with his hands. "She's right, though," Robb says, surprising them all with a laugh. "Do you know how much willpower I had to use daily with Talisa? I thought everyone else was following the rule and I didn't want to upset Mom and Dad in case they ever found out."

"That's why you got married right out of high school," Arya observes, walking over to pat Robb on the shoulder.

Robb shrugs and nods a little. "Wait. Aren't you supposed to be at an audition? You said it wasn't over until three," Robb asks narrowing his eyes at her. 

Arya grimaces. "I actually finished it about an hour ago...”

"Is Arya home yet?" A woman's voice calls from the hallway.

Arya smooths her hair viciously and looks at Gendry with wide eyes. "You didn't tell me mom was coming too!" Arya hisses.

Gendry debates on jumping from the two story apartment. He would probably land with only a broken ankle, but it would definitely be preferable to another member of Arya's family discovering them.

Arya's mother rounds the doorway and smiles to see Arya. "Hi, honey, Robb said you had a dance audition this morning, so I didn't expect to see you until dinner tonight," The woman says and gives Arya a hug. Arya can only painfully smile and nod. Gendry tries not to move at all, thinking that maybe Arya’s mom would just ignore him. "Oh and is this your new beau?” Robb looks like he’s going to say something, but Sansa shoots him a glare from behind Arya’s mother. “Talisa showed me to how to use Instagrammer last weekend and I saw some pictures of your Halloween costumes. Sansa, you and Margaery looked so cute in your little friendship costume," she coos before she turns to Gendry. 

_Fuck_.

"Instagram, Mom," Sansa corrects gently, trying not to grimace at her mother’s comment. Gendry was pretty sure Arya’s parents still didn’t know about Sansa. The woman waves her off.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Gendry," he smiles as politely as he can and offers her his hand. No matter how many times he washed them, grease still caked the cuts and crevices of his hand. Her eyes flicker for a moment, but she quickly hides her distaste and shakes his hand and smiles politely at him.

"Nice to meet you, too. I'm Arya's mother, Catelyn. Will you be joining us for dinner, later?" She asks.

Gendry turns to Arya who grimaces beside him.

"Gendry has to work, Mom," Arya says.

"I understand. I was just hoping to meet your new boyfriend," she mutters and Arya squirms a little under the scrutiny. “Arya hasn’t had a boyfriend since high school,” Catelyn says to Gendry. 

“Mom,” Arya hisses. Gendry hopes that someone tells Catelyn that he isn’t Arya’s boyfriend soon or else she’ll be in for a hell of a surprise if Robb gets to her first.

Catelyn studies Arya for a moment. "Oh my heavens, girl. Why don't you ever brush your hair?" Catelyn grabs a fistful of Arya's locks and tries to smooth them. "When will you be ready for dinner?"

"Twenty minutes? I need to shower," Arya asks. Catelyn nods and sits on the couch to wait.

Arya grabs Gendry’s forearm and walks him to the apartment door. "Bye, Gendry. Thanks for the ride-" Robb nearly chokes. " _home_ ," she hisses and glares at Robb. She pecks her neck forward like she's threatening him and Robb quickly stops. Catelyn doesn’t even notice. Gendry gives them all a curt nod and smile before he leaves the apartment.

God, her family was inescapable.


	12. movement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gendry's POV: somehow gendry is convinced going home with arya for christmas is a good idea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what kind of modern fwb au fic would this be if the fake christmas boyfriend storyline wasn’t used so you’re welcome ALSO i change the song for this chapter all the time sorry but this time it's gonna stick and credit to fineosaur on tumblr for this choice because she posted it and then told me that it reminded her of my fic and i cried

**I still watch you when you're groovin'**  
**As if through water from the bottom of a pool**  
**You're movin' without movin'**  
**And when you move, I'm moved**  
**You are a call to motion**  
**There, all of you a verb in perfect view**  
**Like Jonah on the ocean**  
**When you move, I'm moved**

**When you move**  
**I'm put to mind of all that I wanna be**  
**When you move**  
**I could never define all that you are to me**

**So move me, baby**  
**Shake like the bough of a willow tree**  
**You do it naturally**  
**Move me, baby**

**You are the rite of movement**  
**Its reasonin' made lucid and cool**  
**I know it's no improvement**  
**When you move, I move**  
**You're less Polunin leapin'**  
**Or Fred Astaire in sequins**  
**Honey, you, you're Atlas in his sleepin'**  
**And when you move, I'm moved**

**When you move**  
**I can recall somethin' that's gone from me**  
**When you move**  
**Honey, I'm put in awe of somethin' so flawed and free**

**So move me, baby**  
**Shake like the bough of a willow tree**  
**You do it naturally**  
**Move me, baby**  
**So move me, baby**  
**Like you've nothin' left to prove**  
**And nothin' to lose**  
**Move me, baby**

**Ooh, ooh, ooh**  
**Oh baby, oh baby**  
**Move like grey skies**  
**Move like a bird of paradise**  
**Move like an odd sight come out at night**

**Move me, baby**  
**Shake like the bough of a willow tree**  
**You do it naturally**  
**Move me, baby**  
**So move me, baby**  
**Like you've nothin' left to lose**  
**And nothin' to prove**  
**Move me, baby**  
**So move me, baby**  
**Shake like the bough of a willow tree**  
**You do it naturally**  
**Move me, baby**

**Movement ~ Hozier**

  _Gendry_

 

"Do you remember when my brother walked in on us-"

"How could I forget?" Gendry mutters to himself as Arya finishes her ramble.

"And then my mother was there so unfortunately my mother thinks we’re dating and she invited you to come home for Christmas and I tried to say that you were going to your home for Christmas so you didn't have to come to my house but then Bran just had to go and say 'Oh Mom that would be so nice because Gendry doesn't go home for the holidays' and now I don't have a reason to tell her why you can't go with me."

"Breathe," Gendry finally says. He is sure that Arya didn't take a single breath since the start of her spiel.

Arya takes a deep breath and the redness of her face starts to lighten. "Well, basically, my parents would like you to visit for Christmas."

Gendry almost laughs. "Uh, no thanks."

"Please. Gendry. My mother has my father convinced that this is a very serious relationship. And my father really likes to intimidate boys that Sansa and I introduce to him. Well, it's just me, now," she mutters.

"No. I don't like people. I don't like meeting people, I don't like spending holidays with several people that I just met. I like Bran and I like Sansa, but I'm not up to meet the rest of the Stark clan. I'm pretty sure you never run out of family members. Have _you_ even met all of your family?"

"Shut up, there's only six kids. And technically one of my brothers is my cousin and then my parents fostered a boy when he was younger, but he sometimes doesn't come home for Christmas, and Rickon might have a boot camp to go to-"

"I'm pretty sure that your mother and Robb aren't big fans of me."

"That's not true. Robb is traumatized, but my mother just wants all of her children to be happy, so if I pretend that you make me really happy, then-"

"No, Arya."

"Gendry, it's just a few days. You don't even have to stay the whole time because we can fake break up after the Christmas party if you want!"

"No!" _Oh, God. She wants him to go to a Christmas party, too?_ _As if having to meet the rest of her family wasn't bad enough already._

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to pretend to be your boyfriend, Arya! I'm sorry that you're not in a stable relationship like your mother wants, but I can't pretend to be your boyfriend! How am I supposed to survive the 'what are your intentions with my daughter' talk when I've been doing you for almost a year?"

"Is this because Robb saw us fucking last week?"

"No, Arya, it's just because I hate the Nor-yes because your oldest brother saw us fucking last week! Do you honestly think he hasn't told your parents?"

Arya shrugs. "He wouldn't. He knows that if he had I would put Nair in his shampoo again.  And I would stay true to my threat about him and Talisa. Robb won't make it easy on you, and Jon and Rickon go along with whatever Robb says, and I know Sansa is going to be all over me to keep the attention off of her because she still hasn't told anyone except Bran that she's a lesbian-"

"Robb already knows that we aren't a real couple."

"Yeah, but he's not going to tell anyone that. He's probably just trying to never think about that day ever again."

"What about Bran?"

"Bran has probably never cared about something less in his life. And I'm pretty sure he still thinks we're actually dating for real because I never told him differently," she admits.

Gendry groans and rolls his eyes. He will go along with anything Arya asks of him, with little convincing, and she knows it.

"If you don't go home with me this Christmas, I won't have sex with you until spring break," she threatens, crossing her arms.

Gendry stifles a laugh. "When you come back from break, you're gonna be all over me. After a full month of stuffy churches and no sex, you're not gonna be able to last."

"Well if you come home with me, then I'll have good sex on Christmas and when we get back."

"Have you considered that I might have somewhere to be on Christmas?" Arya doesn't say anything. "Well, you're right, but-"

"You can have a home cooked meal on Christmas and open presents and it will be great. And the plus is that you'll never have to see any of these people again, so it doesn't really matter." Gendry half smiles at that. As much as he hates people, he would like to see them again, because then it would mean him and Arya were serious. Or she wanted him to be her fake boyfriend for another Christmas. Either would be nice.

"You have to get me something really nice, then," Gendry teases. "And you have to defend me to your family." Arya nods.

"Okay, I will."

"But most importantly, I need you to tell me how to get your siblings and parents to fake like me."

-

The entire three hour drive to Arya's parents' house, all Gendry kept thinking was that he was a fucking idiot. Maybe Anguy was right. Maybe he was whipped.

When he pulled into the driveway, he was a little intimidated. He knew Arya's family was wealthy, but Jesus fucking Christ, how much space did one family need? Gendry parks his truck next to Arya's car in the driveway and tries to remind himself that it doesn't actually matter what Arya's family thought of him because he isn't really Arya's boyfriend, but he's starting to think he's going to at least need to wear a tie on Christmas.

Arya is already here, but Gendry doesn't want to go inside alone and look like an idiot trying to weave his way through this house, so he waits outside for a second. Arya steps outside. "Nymeria, stay," she instructs and Gendry walks up to her, excited to at least meet her dog that she talked about so much. Nymeria stands in the doorway and Gendry nearly trips himself trying to step backwards.

"What? I thought you liked dogs?" Arya asks and Nymeria tilts her head at Gendry, probably deciding if she's planning on eating him after she kills him.

"Are you sure she's a fucking dog?"

"Oh my God, stop being a little bitch. She's an Alaskan Malamute. Most of her mass is from her fur, anyway," Arya grumbles. Nymeria continues to stand behind Arya, and Gendry is grateful that she follows commands. "She's not going to eat you," Arya promises.

"Wanna bet?" Gendry mumbles, but still approaches cautiously, and slowly stretches his hand out for Nymeria to sniff. Nymeria sniffs it and looks to Arya. Arya clasps her hand on Gendry's arm to show that he's okay and Nymeria licks his hand. Gendry smiles and pets Nymeria's head, who is now wagging her tail.

"Do you want to go meet my dad?" she asks.

Gendry wonders how offended she would be if he shook his head and just stayed outside to pet Nymeria, but Arya loves her father, so he sucks it up. "Sure," he says and gives her a small smile.

Arya grins and leads him inside, while Nymeria is still trying her best to keep his attention. "Nymeria, sit," she instructs. Nymeria lets out a small whine, but sits anyway. "Jon's not going to be home for Christmas," she sighs and Gendry can tell that she tries to hide the waver in her voice. She talks about Jon the most, and still referred to him as her brother, even though the Stark children had found out Jon was their adopted cousin a few years ago. Arya refused to think of him as any less than her brother. "Rickon went to an ROTC camp for this week, but he'll be home tomorrow morning, and my dad just flew in from Detroit. He's upstairs if you want to meet him now," she offers.

Gendry nods and Arya shows him the way to her father's office. Her father sits in his desk chair, but motions for Arya to come inside with Gendry when she knocks. "Dad, this is my boyfriend, Gendry. Gendry, this is my Dad," she says, quickly, before sheseems to be holding her breath. Her father stands from his chair and reaches a hand out. Gendry gives him a firm handshake, and Ned nods a little.

"Nice to meet you, sir," Gendry says, and Ned motions for him to take a seat across from him.

"Arya, can you ask your sister when she'll be in?" He says, and Arya takes it as a cue to leave to call Sansa. Ned sits back down.

 _Fuck_.

"My daughter says that you have been dating for a while." Gendry nods. "When did you start dating?"

"On Halloween, sir," Gendry says, without missing a beat. Arya wasn't stupid, and knew what parts of the story they needed. They couldn't say that it was after Halloween, because that's when Catelyn first noticed that they were "dating," and if they said they were dating before then, she would probably be hurt that Arya didn't mention Gendry sooner.

"What's Arya's favorite color?"

"It's green. Sir."

"Did Nymeria like you?"

Gendry nods a little.

"What are your intentions with my daughter?" Ned finally asks, and Gendry can't even be upset about it because he knew the question would come eventually.

"I just want to make her happy." 

Ned gives him a small nod, showing that he approves of Gendry's answer. "You'll be staying in the room right across the hall. I'm sure you know by now that Arya is a good Catholic girl, but my wife and I feel that it's better to be safe than sorry by not allowing a boy to sleep in our daughter's bed." Gendry nearly chokes at the bluntness of Ned's statement, but he steels his face and gives Ned a slow nod.

"Of course. I completely respect your decision, sir," he says and Ned gives him a gentle smile.

"You're free to go, then," Ned says, and turns back to his computer. Gendry stands from the chair and walks out of the office, but after he closes the door, he can't wait to find Arya so they can laugh about this later. _A_ _good_ _Catholic_ _girl_. _Oh, Mr. Stark, what you don't know may kill you._

Gendry follows the path that he took to get up the stairs, and finds Arya waiting at the bottom with Nymeria. "What did he say?" She whispers.

Gendry gives her a small smile. "He asked me what your favorite color was and then made sure I knew you were a good Catholic girl." Arya raises her eyebrows. "He thinks you're not having sex with me, but he's putting me in a different room just to be sure," he clarifies and Arya covers her mouth with her hand as she laughs.

"What did you say?"

Gendry shrugs. "I just said that I respected that decision."

"A good Catholic girl," she laughs again. “Maybe I should visit you tonight, just in case you forgot the truth?" She teases and Gendry shakes his head.

"Maybe you shouldn't. You have four brothers-"

"And a Theon," she interrupts with a smile.

"And a Theon coming into town. I enjoy my life."

Arya rolls her eyes playfully, but stands and motions for him to stand with her.

"My mom wants me to make sugar cookies for the twins to decorate tomorrow night, and I'm sure you're going to have nothing better to do for a few hours, so you can help."

"I'm shit at baking."

"Then you can watch," she mutters and he follows her to the kitchen.

The kitchen was probably bigger than his entire apartment, but the more he thought of that, the more he wanted to leave this house and go back to said apartment. "You said something about twins and I just want to make sure you don't have any more siblings you haven't mentioned before?"

"They're my oldest brother, Robb's. Eddard and Lyarra, they're two and a half."

"Oh yeah, you told me you were an aunt," he remembers. "Are you their favorite?"

Arya raises her eyebrows and gives him a half smile. "I hope so. If I'm making them sugar cookies from scratch, the brats better love me the most," she teases and pulls out a bag of flour.

-

Gendry had been placed on the second floor next to Arya's parents' room and Ned’s office, so he was more than shocked when Arya was at his bedroom door later that night.

"Hey?"

"Hey," Arya whispers back and loosens the blanket she had wrapped around her neck. "Told you I'd pay you a visit," she smirks and tilts her head a little.

"It's midnight," Gendry replies and notices the pretty silk nightgown she had on.

"Sure is."

"Your parents are down the hall," he emphasizes.

"Sure are," she shrugs.

"I'm going to hell," Gendry whispers.

"I'm worth it," she says and grabs Gendry's arm to lead him. He follows her and tries to keep his footsteps quiet. He's an idiot. He can't believe he was really going to do this.

"Where are we going?" Gendry whispers.

"Shut up a minute," she mutters and Gendry rolls his eyes. She leads him down the steps onto the ground floor before she talks again. "The cellar. Sound doesn't carry very well. Sansa and I accidentally tested it when we were kids. We would go there to yell after we figured out that we couldn't hear anything from upstairs," Arya whispers back as she leads him down the basement steps.

"God, that sounds like something from a horror movie. Are we gonna get murdered if we have sex down here?" He grumbles and Arya shakes her head.

"Not if we're lucky," she says in her normal voice and reaches up for the string to the light bulb in the cellar. She shuts the door behind Gendry after the light turns on, and it's definitely everything a person would expect from a cellar. It's dark and cold and the Starks had a small shelf of wines and other beverages that Gendry had probably never drank before lining one of the walls.

Arya pulls the blanket off from around her shoulders, revealing the purple garment she wore. It reached a little above her mid thigh and was trimmed in a black lace.

"Did you wear that for me?" he teases and Arya rolls her eyes.

"You wish," she says cockily, but turns her pink face away from him. She lays the blanket down on the floor of the cellar and sits on it, patting the spot behind her. Gendry bites the side of his tongue a little and sighs before he sits beside her. He's an idiot. Arya wastes no time attacking him and pushes him onto his back. Gendry lets out a laugh at her, but Arya raises her eyebrows to dare him to keep laughing. She moves her legs to straddle his hips. Gendry slides his hands up her thighs and under the edge of the slip. The sides had a type of lace cut out all down the nightgown and Gendry still hopes she had worn it for him. She usually slept in just an old T-shirt, so his chances are high.

"Everyone's going to come home by tomorrow night, so tonight might be our only chance," she says and reaches her nimble fingers to his already hard cock. Gendry almost hits his head on the floor when he realizes it. "I didn't grab a condom, we can't," he sighs, but Arya makes no move to get off of him.

"I thought you might forget, stupid." She points to the small shiny wrapper she had set down on the corner of the blanket. "I don't know how you survived before me, honestly," she mocks and Gendry grins at her.

She grinds her hips down on him a little and Gendry lets out a grunt. She pulls on his hand to move it higher up her slip and rests her other hand in the middle of her chest to hold herself up. He slips his index finger inside her and she sighs. He pushes his middle finger in too, making Arya grab his wrist and dig her nails into his forearm. Arya shifts forward a little and presses her hand into his sternum. She moves her hips against his hand and Gendry rubs his thumb over her clit. She moans softly and he grins again. "We're on a time crunch," she chokes out and lifts herself off of his hand. Gendry starts to sit up, but Arya keeps her hand in the middle of his chest. She reaches for the condom and hands it to him to put on. He pulls aside his boxers to roll it on and Arya already has her hands on him before he's done.

"Jesus," he mumbles, and Arya grins at him.

"Is this too much for you to handle," she teases and Gendry rolls his eyes.

"Not even a little," he starts to respond, but his words are lost when Arya sinks onto him. She lets out a sharp breath and Gendry digs his fingers into her thighs. Arya presses her hands into his chest and rocks forward. Gendry doesn’t want to lay on his back tonight, but Arya is determined to keep him down. At least the bright side of it is that he could watch her. He likes the way her breath comes heavy from her mouth and the way she squeezes her eyes shut. Her face always flushes and it spreads down her neck to her chest, and Arya is not an easy blusher, so the sight still twists his insides. One of the straps of her slip slides down her shoulder and Gendry thinks about how much he wants to pull down the other strap, but he doesn't.

She twists her hips and Gendry slides his hands under the silk to rub her thighs. He moves one of his hands to palm the bottom of her stomach and Arya shifts her hips, trying to get his hand where she wants it. Gendry pushes his hand up and traces his fingers along one of her breasts. She gets a small smile on her face when he finally presses his other fingers to her clit, but she opens her eyes to see him staring at her.

"Stop."

Gendry pulls his hands away, cautiously. "Stop what?" She reaches for his wrist.

"Don't stop that. Stop _staring_ at me," she hisses. "Unless you're planning to confess your undying love, don't stare at me like that."

"I'm not staring at you like anything," he argues, pushing his hands back up under the dress. Arya tilts her head and stares back at him, almost like she's studying him.

"Kiss me."

Gendry digs his fingers into her thighs to show his distaste at the command. He thinks about how easy it would be to lean up and kiss her.

But he wouldn't. He’s stupid to think about kissing her, anyway. He doesn’t even feel that way for her. They're just friends.

"No."

Arya grumbles a "whatever" and pulls down her other strap to tug the slip down to the bottom of her ribs. She fists Gendry's shirt in her other hand and brings him up. Gendry rolls his eyes at her and kisses her collarbone. She arches her back on top of him and presses him closer by wrapping her arms around his neck. Gendry slides his hands to her hips and moves her against him. He presses his thumb back to her clit, rubbing softly. She lets out a mewl but tries to mask it by clearing her throat. Gendry only smiles and pushes her hips down harder. He almost nips her but remembers that she didn't like him to leave marks, and he especially wouldn't want to leave one now in this house. He pulls at one of her thighs to shift her and she complies easily enough. She slides her other thigh up and onto his hip, rubbing the soft skin against him. He brings her hips forward and thrusts further into her. She lets out a soft moan and Gendry moves his lips from her neck to her nipple. She digs her fingers into his hair and rocks her hips with him.

"Fuck," she hisses and tugs his hair when he moves his mouth to nip the side of her breast. Arya rolls her eyes at the small smirk on his face and he kisses the top of her other breast. He gets her nipple into his mouth again and she clenches tight around him, drawing out a moan from him. "Fuck," she groans again while her legs shudder. She pulls his hair and presses her cheek against his shoulder as she pulses around him. Gendry rolls her hips forward a few more times before he comes too.

Arya smiles at him and lifts her head. Gendry takes a few shallow breaths as Arya readjusts her straps. "Thanks," she sighs and climbs off of his lap, pulling the nightgown down. Gendry raises his eyebrows, incredulously.

"You're welcome," he mocks. "If you lied to me about sound though, I'll be dead by morning."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> originally the christmas story was split into two so half was gendry and half was arya but i got a little carried away with fluff so it’s three chapters now consider it an early holiday present and by early i mean nine whole ass months early


	13. oh, ms believer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> gendry’s pov: christmas eve eve and christmas eve!!

 

 

**Oh, miss believer, my pretty sleeper**  
**Your twisted mind is like snow on the road**  
**Your shaking shoulders prove that it's colder**  
**Inside your head than the winter of dead**

**I will tell you I love you**  
**But the muffs on your ears will cater your fears**  
**My nose and feet are running as we start**  
**travel through snow**  
**Together we go (together we go)**

**We get colder**  
**As we grow older**  
**We will walk**  
**So much slower**

**Oh, miss believer, my pretty weeper**  
**Your twisted thoughts are like snow on the rooftops**  
**Please, take my hand, we're in foreign land**  
**As we travel through snow**  
**Together we go**  
**Together we go**

**We get colder**  
**As we grow older**  
**We will walk**  
**So much slower**

**Oh, Ms Believer ~ Twenty One Pilots**

_Gendry_

"Hey, Tank," Sansa grins. "I heard you milling around at midnight last night," she says.

Gendry blushes and turns to the coffee machine. "Yeah, I was getting water."

"There's no water in the basement," she says.

Gendry nods. "Got lost." Sansa nods back, but her face lets Gendry know that she knows he's lying. "What does 'Tank' mean, anyway? Why do you keep calling me that?"

Sansa smirks. After she tells Gendry, Gendry is so mortified he doesn't even remember making it up to Arya's bedroom.

"Arya. Arya, wake the fuck up." Gendry hisses as he shakes her shoulders.

"You're not allowed in here," she grumbles and rubs her eyes.

"You told your sister?"

"Told her what?" Arya furrows her eyebrows and sits up in her bed.

"She told me what 'Tank' means."

Arya winces a little. "Ah, shit. I'm sorry."

"Why? Why? Why would you tell her?"

"I didn't! She figured it out on her own!"

"How the h-"

"I literally could not walk. In case you don't remember-"

"I remember. Oh my God," Gendry grumbles and covers his face.

"I'll make her stop," Arya promises.

"Please do."

Gendry rushes out of Arya's room before anyone notices he was in there, and takes extra care to avoid eye contact with Sansa for the rest of the morning.

-

"One of the instructors at Syrio's dance studio is in actual labor, so he asked me to come in and help because their Christmas pageant is tonight. You can stay here with my family if you really want or you can come hang out until I'm done and then you can help me find a gift for my dad."

Gendry agrees to go with her, mostly because Robb came in this morning with his wife and two kids. Gendry found that it's hard to make conversation with someone who first met him with his hands on Arya's tits. It's even harder when that someone is Arya's oldest brother.

Gendry drove Arya up to the auditorium and she pointed out Syrio to him. “That’s Syrio. He runs the dance studio and these are the parents of some of the students. I’ll be here for a few hours at least.” Gendry nods and she rushes off to do her thing. He sits up in the front with the other parents so he doesn't look like a creep in the back by himself, but he mostly just zones out until he sees Arya helping some of the middle school girls rehearse last minute. She had assured Gendry she had done this exact routine countless times in her life since she was eight, so she was going to be useful. She told him that she also taught several of the girls in the act over the summer, so she was familiar with them. She took a deep breath with the girls and gave them all a bright smile before she exited the stage to let them rehearse their performance. Arya came around the backstage and sat by Gendry in the audience.

"The front girl is named Emily, and she's so nervous about having a solo move, but look at how beautiful that pirouette was," she smiles at him.Gendry smiles back and nods. "Oh no, Juliet stumbled during her arabesque," Arya winces beside him. He has no idea what any of the moves Arya says mean, but he loves the smile it brings to Arya's face so he listens intently.

"Can you please shut up?" A woman in front of them turns around and glares at Arya. "My husband and I don't get to see our daughter's routine tonight, so we would like to enjoy it in peace this morning."

Arya gives her an apologetic smile, but when the woman turns back around Arya makes a face and mimics her. Gendry grins and tries to watch the routine instead of Arya. Arya bites the side of her lip when the routine almost ends and two of the girls run at each other into a leap that Gendry assumes should be close but shouldn't touch. The girls land unscathed and Arya stands to clap and cheer. She leaves Gendry behind again to go up to the girls. "You were all amazing! Rena would have been so proud to see it!" He hears her shout to them. "Just remember not to think about being on stage. It's just another practice with extra lighting and makeup." The girls all nod and Arya pulls them each aside to—at least Gendry's assumes—critique them without embarrassing them in front of the other girls. Syrio addresses the parents, and Gendry turns to listen. Syrio talks a little about tonight's schedule, and Gendry looks to Arya and can feel himself gazing at her as she talks to the girls. He turns back to Syrio when he realizes it. Syrio eyes Gendry, but finishes his small speech. Some of the parents ask him questions, but soon they all file out. Gendry doesn't know where Arya's run off to now, but he doesn't see her with the girls anymore.

Syrio approaches Gendry. "Arya tells me you are her boyfriend," he says. Gendry gives him a nod. "I'm surprised that you are here with her. Her boyfriend when I taught her would not even come to her dance recitals, much less the rehearsals for students that weren't even hers."

"He didn't seem like a very nice guy from what I know of him," Gendry responds.

"He wasn't. I didn't like him for her, but your parents adored him, as did Arya, so I looked past it. She was my best student, I had to keep her happy with me. And insulting her boyfriend would not have helped."

"No, I guess not."

Arya comes back from backstage and was changed into a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie over her leotard. Gendry hands her the coat she had left in his lap before she went backstage and she looks from him to Syrio.

"Are you tormenting my boyfriend, Syrio?" she teases and pulls on the coat.

Syrio fake gasps. "I would never," he insists and gives Arya a small smile. "You will be back for the recital, yes?"

Arya nods and promises that she will. Arya reaches for Gendry's hand for show and leads him outside to his truck. She never complained about being cold, but her hands were always freezing. He squeezes her hand a little to warm it and relishes how it fits with his.

"What did you think?" She asks.

"It was good," he responds.

Arya rolls her eyes and releases his hand.

"It was good," she mimics. "I know it was good, everything Syrio produces is good! Did you like the routines?" They get into his truck and he shrugs.

"Arya, have you met me? I don't know the first thing about ballet. They were good," he says again and starts the truck.

"You have no taste," she teases.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm a classless brute. How do I get to the mall?" Arya tells him which highway to take and she digs around in her bag for a piece of paper.

"So I made a list of things my dad likes and doesn't like so hopefully we can find him something good."

"I feel like I should be able to blame you if we don't find a good gift considering tomorrow is Christmas Eve and you made that list this morning."

"Well, I was gonna make it last night, but..."

Gendry blushes a little. "Also your fault," he chokes out.

Arya rolls her eyes. She tells him to get off the highway and directs him to the mall.

They browse around the mall for a while and find their way into a men’s clothing shop. She grumbles as she looks for something that her dad might like. Gendry eyes a black leather jacket. His current leather jacket was worn down from having worn it through the past several winters. He looks at the price tag, and quickly turns the tag back down before he looks at another display. “What if I got my dad a personal coffee machine? There’s one a few stores down that I think he would like. It grinds the coffee grounds for him and then it brews it.” Gendry nods and follows her out of the store. They buy the coffee maker for Ned’s Detroit office and then they order some lunch from the food court. Arya chats some more about the recital and Gendry tries to follow along. “Can you entertain yourself for like fifteen minutes?” She asks.

“Why?”

“Don’t worry about it. Mind your business,” she teases.

“Yeah, I think I’ll be okay for a little while.” Gendry still hadn’t found anything for Arya. He bought a dog toy for Nymeria, but hoped he might be able to find something in fifteen minutes.

“I’ll meet you back here in fifteen minutes, then. Don’t get lost,” she instructs. 

He tries to scan through as many store windows as he can while Arya is off, but something in the window of a jewelry store catches his eye. He spots a silver necklace with the charm of a wolf the size of his pinky nail and knows that he has to get it for Arya. He tries not grimace at the price when the salesclerk sells it to him, but after he’s bought the damn thing the only thing that matters is whether or not Arya will like it. He slips the box into his coat pocket and waits by the small shaved ice stand for Arya. 

-

"Merry Christmas Eve!" Arya tells Gendry with a grin. She pours a mug of coffee and mixes a sugar packet into it. 

"You're in an unusually good mood this morning," Gendry observes and takes a few more sips of his coffee.

"Arya only wakes up in a good mood two days a year. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day," someone says from the doorway.

"Jon!" Arya turns at the sound of the voice and sets her mug down so harshly some coffee splashes onto the counter. She runs to jump into his arms. "You said you weren't going to be home this Christmas!"

"I lied! I hated every second of it, but I wanted to surprise you!" Jon hugs Arya tighter and she nuzzles her face into his neck.

"I've missed you," she sighs and Jon sets her down. "I feel like I haven't seen you in years, how are you?"

Jon shrugs. "Same old, same old. I've brought someone that I'd like you to meet," he says and motions to the doorway. "Ygritte, you can come in now." A woman with fiery red hair walks into the kitchen and stands by Jon. "Ygritte, this is my sister Arya. Arya, this is Ygritte, my girlfriend." Arya grins and Ygritte grins back.

"Awwe, Jon, your first girlfriend," she coos.

"Oh shut up, Arya. Ygritte isn't my first girlfriend. I'm twenty-four," he argues, but blushes anyway.

"I've heard a lot about you," Ygritte tells Arya. "Jon talks about you at least once a day," she says.

"Jon's told me a lot about you when he calls," she turns to Jon, "which hasn't been very often recently," she hisses. Jon holds his hands up in defense.

"I can't lie, you know that."

"Well you should've tried harder. I had to spend my days trying to figure out what you had for breakfast because you didn't call and tell me."

"I don't call you that much."

Arya raises her eyebrows and stares at him. Jon shakes his head and finally looks to Gendry. Gendry awkwardly gives him a wave, and Arya walks over to Gendry. "Jon, this is Gendry. Gendry, this is Jon." Gendry stands and reaches his hand out to shake. Jon accepts it, but the warm look in his eyes for Arya is now gone.

"Gendry," he says. "I'm her older brother. Who are you?" He squeezes Gendry's hand and the guy is a lot stronger than he looks.

"Jon," Arya groans and rolls her eyes. "Gendry's my boyfriend."

"Interesting."

"Not really," she mumbles.

"I've heard a lot about you," Gendry says, in good nature.

"I've heard nothing about you," Jon remarks and turns to Arya. "Why is that?"

"Calm down, Jon. The level of testosterone in here is going to make me choke, Jesus."

Ygritte lets out a laugh and Jon finally lets go of Gendry's hand. "He's only 5'7", he has to assert his dominance somehow," Ygritte teases and Jon scowls.

"I'm 5'8", Ygritte." Ygritte rolls her eyes playfully at him. "Is everyone else home?" Jon turns back to Arya.

Arya nods and tells him where everyone else is. "They're probably still sleeping, though."

”If Catelyn is still sleeping, you’re gonna want to get that coffee cleaned up before she wakes up, then,” Jon teases and Arya nods with a grin before she pulls some paper towels off of the roll. 

-

"I'm sorry, Gendry, but you can't come with me. The boys stay with my dad and the girls all go look at Christmas lights. It's a tradition. I'll be home soon, I promise," Arya had told him two hours ago. Gendry understands that Arya came home to spend time with her family, too, but he really, _really_ did not want to be left alone with Jon and Robb at the same time. They kept glowering at him and Gendry would just grimace and take his shot at pool.

"Gendry, I need to talk to you for a second," Jon says, already walking up from the basement, expecting Gendry to follow.

Arya constantly told Gendry about the Stark wolves, even though she swore they were just malamutes. She went over all of the training they had done as children and called them "viciously loyal." So when Jon's trained-to-kill "husky" drops the box of condoms from Gendry's suitcase at his feet, Gendry has to use all of his bravery to not shit himself and beg for mercy. _Fuck_ _my_ _life_ , he thinks. Arya could not have left him alone at a worse time.

"I can-"

"Explain? I don't really want to know. Arya has never told me about you, so I'm assuming your relationship is still new. She's my baby sister, and you're three years older than her. I better not find these in our childhood home with you here ever again," he says, before walking off and urging Ghost to follow. Gendry scrambles to pick up the condom box and empty it into his pocket before folding the box inside out and throwing it into the trash can under a pile of appetizer plates. He walks back downstairs and sits by Bran, trying to avoid everyone else in the room. 

"I'm surprised Theon didn't come up this year," Ned says and makes a shot against Robb.

Robb shrugs. "He felt like he needed to spend it with Yara after their father's death last spring. He might drop by for New Years." Ned nods. Gendry hasn't heard much about Theon, but if he's anything like Robb or Jon, he is grateful of his absence. Robb makes his shot and misses. "The twins seem to like your Ygritte," Robb turns to Jon.

Jon smiles. "It's probably because they have her wrapped around their fingers. I'm scared to tell Talisa how much candy she's given them today alone."

Robb smiles at Jon. "I've heard Bran has a girlfriend, too."

Bran's eyes widen a little, but he tries to hide his shock. "Um, yeah," he mumbles.

"Well? Are we gonna meet her?" Jon teases.

"Um, she usually celebrates the holidays with her family. But I can ask her about New Years," he says and Ned smiles.

"What about Rickon?" Jon turns to the boy who had been sitting in the corner on his phone. The boy seemed nice, but Arya said he was being unusually shy this Christmas. Rickon blushes and shakes his head.

"You sure? You've been texting pretty insistently for the past few days, so unless there's a girl in your life, you're apparently a very talkative person. You could've fooled me, though," Robb mutters. Rickon shakes his head again.

"Just talking to my friends from ROTC."

"Rickon," Robb prods.

"Okay, fine! I like Shireen," he mumbles.

"Didn't she used to babysit you?" Bran asks.

"She didn't babysit me," he argues. "She came over when I was like fourteen and fifteen in case of an emergency that required someone around with a license."

"So... babysitting," Robb clarifies.

"Shut your mouth," Rickon grumbles and Robb and Jon share a laugh.

"Hey, leave Rickon alone, you three. Some men like older women," Ned chastises before he makes a game winning shot.

"Ew, Dad. Mom's only six months older than you. She never babysat you," Robb grumbles, and pulls the pool balls out of the pockets to reset the game.

Ned chuckles and helps Robb gather the pool balls. "I was thinking Sansa would bring someone home for Christmas this year," Ned comments before he steps out of the way for Jon to break the rack.

"She brought Margaery," Jon says.

"Just as a friend," Gendry and Bran both cut in. They share a look, but quickly turn away from each other to avoid suspicion. Gendry was trying to be seen and not heard, but Sansa was nice to him. He wanted at least someone to defend her while she was gone.

"Margaery's family doesn't celebrate Christmas until New Years because that's when their whole family gets together, and Sansa felt bad about Margaery spending Christmas Day alone while her brother visits France," Bran clarifies.

"Oh." Jon raises his eyebrows. "Well, I'm glad she didn't bring a boy home."

"We already have our hands full," Robb grumbles. Gendry wants to throw his hands up in exasperation, but he just lets out a sigh. At least Christmas was tomorrow and he would be able to go home soon enough.

-

"You're so stupid," Arya stifles a laugh when she gets home that night. She had only been gone for a little more than two hours, but Gendry felt like she had left him alone with her brothers for days.

"Yeah. I know."

"Why didn't you have me keep them in my room?"

"I just assumed that your brothers weren't going to go rifling through my things."

"There are four of them. And Theon. If you really thought that you would be safe in this house-"

"Arya! It isn't funny! What if Jon says something to your dad?"

"He won't."

"How do you know?"

"I know. They all know that if they ever snitched on me, I would kill them," she says with a shrug. "And next time, don't leave condoms in your suitcase, stupid. Bring them to me. If Jon had found them in my room, he probably would've just put them back and cried," she teases. Gendry rolls his eyes. "I have a gift for you real quick. You can come into my room for a few minutes if we leave the door open."

"Let me grab one of your gifts then. It'll be a fair trade," he says.

Arya nods and Gendry quickly gets Arya's gift (that was technically for Nymeria) to bring back to her room. He props the door open when he comes back and Arya places a small package in his hands when he sits by her on her bed. "Open mine first," she demands. Gendry struggles to untie the tiny bow, but eventually it comes undone. "It's the gift that keeps on giving," she says, giving him a coy smile.

Gendry pulls off the box's lid, and holds up the piece of lace fabric. "I don't think this is gonna fit me," he teases, giving her a smirk.

She shoves his chest and says, "Shut up, stupid. It's for me and it's even ballerina pink, so you can't say that I never wear pink anymore." Gendry grins a little and closes the box before he hands her her gift.

"What the fuck?" She breathes out a laugh and holds up the misshapen package. "Gendry, I swear to God-"

"It's for Nymeria."

She laughs again. "Nymeria, to me," she calls, and the husky leaves her bed in the corner of the room to sit at Arya's feet. "Look, Nymeria. Gendry got you a dildo."

"Piss off," he says, shoving her shoulder with his. Now that's she mentioned it, the wrapping did look a little suspicious.

Arya tears the wrapping open to reveal a chew toy for Nymeria. "You probably want to give it to her. Maybe it will convince her to like you."

Nymeria seemed to like Gendry, but she didn't let him pet her without Arya around.

"I thought she liked whoever you liked?"

"Who said I like you? I only keep you around 'cause you're good in the sack," she teases and bumps his shoulder with hers. Gendry shakes his head at her and stands from her bed.

"My allotted time in here is probably up," he mocks. "I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning."

Arya grins. "My mom and dad usually make pancakes and then we open gifts at like eight, so make sure you're up. People are going to start getting here at one."

Gendry nods. "I'll be up. Good night, Arya."

"Good night."

-

Gendry sits at the dining room table with Arya's family the next morning and Catelyn chatters endlessly about all of the things that need to be done as soon as gifts are done being opened. She tasks Sansa and Margaery with helping her clean the kitchen and Bran with helping her assemble the food trays. Arya and Gendry were to clean up the family room from all of the wrapping paper and dust it. She wanted Robb and Rickon to sweep and mop everywhere and she wanted Jon to help Ned with any yard work that still needed to be done. She seems a little shocked when Ygritte asks to help Jon and Ned with the yard work, but she smiles and tells her that her help would be appreciated. Gendry's head spun with all of her instructions, but at least he had Arya to memorize where he needed to be as well.  Everyone helped clean the table and put away the leftovers from breakfast while Talisa had the twins help her sort gifts. They couldn't read, but they were old enough to set things down where Talisa instructed them to do so. When Arya said that Catelyn went a little overboard on Christmas, he hadn't expected her to set a timer for gift unwrapping.

The last time he had celebrated Christmas with other people was right before his mom passed away and it didn't really hit him until Catelyn was opening her gifts from all of her children. Catelyn was so happy and told her children how much she loved them and her gift and it reminded him a little of how excited his mom would get about her presents from him even though they were never usually anything that was too exciting. Arya pats his arm. "Earth to Gendry," she whispers and hands him a gift from her. He unties the bow and pulls the lid off of the box. He holds up the leather and grins at Arya."I didn't know what the right size for you was so I just kind of guessed, but I can take it back if you need a different size," she promises. Gendry runs his hands over the stitching.

"Thank you, Arya."

"You're welcome," she says and smiles at him. Gendry didn't even know what to say. He was impressed that she noticed him looking at the jacket yesterday, and smiles a little to himself. It was definitely the fanciest gift he had ever received and he felt a little self conscious about it, but Arya picks up his gift next. She pries the lid off of the tiny box and gives him another small smile. "It's beautiful," she swoons and picks up the charm to study it.

Arya clips the necklace around her neck. "Thank you, Gendry. I love it," she says and wraps her arms around him to hug him.

"You're welcome. I thought of you when I saw it."

"Okay, lovebirds," Robb grumbles, "we need to be done with gift-giving in thirteen minutes, so hurry it up." Arya sticks her tongue out at him and rolls her eyes.

Gendry helps Arya clean the living room after everyone is done opening their gifts. She grumbles at her siblings when they get in her way while cleaning, but she still kisses the twins on the head every time they run past. Talisa finally chases them down for a nap and she helps Robb finish mopping the hallways.

When Catelyn deems everyone's chores complete, she lets them get ready for the rest of day. Gendry had tried to smooth out the wrinkles in his shirt, but he finally decides it was a lost cause. He attempts to tie the tie around his neck, but no matter how many youtube videos he watches, he can't seem to get it right. He walks downstairs to Arya's room and knocks on her door.

"So, I have no idea how to tie a tie. I've never worn one," Gendry admits, when Arya opens her bedroom door. He shows Arya the flaps of loose fabric and she rolls her eyes playfully.

"Alright, so you put this here, wrap it, and then the rabbit goes in the hole," she commentates, as she ties it.

"I have no idea what you just did." She grabs the tie and pulls him down to her height.

"I guess you'll have to keep me around to tie them, then."

"Guess I will," he says, ignoring the fact that he will probably only ever wear a tie a few more times for the rest of his life. She starts to stand up higher on her tiptoes, leveling their faces. Maybe he was only imagining it because he wanted it to be true, but it seemed like her face was getting closer to his.

"Right," she says, and drop back down on her heels. "I have to finish getting ready."

"Right," Gendry agrees, and she loosens her hold on Gendry's tie to straighten it.

"I need Sansa to help me with my hair," she says, and steps away from him. Gendry stands there like an idiot for a moment, but he leaves the room when she steps out to go to Sansa's room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i know the flow on this was a little off bc my sections were a little choppy but i am just so excited about writing the starks at christmas that i feel like if i don’t publish this rn then i will just keep writing more and more and i already had to split gendry’s chapter 😂😂


	14. turning out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arya's POV: sansa's secret is revealed and arya tries her best to help ((Christmas part 3))

 

**I hold you**  
**I hold you closer then I ever knew**  
**I could do**  
**But I'm confused**  
**I thought I'd recognize when love was true**  
**But I'm confused**

**Am I ready for love?**  
**Or maybe just a best friend**  
**Should there be a difference**  
**Do you have instructions?**  
**Maybe I'm stuck on what I see on TV**  
**I grew up on Disney**  
**But this don't feel like Disney**

**You say I turned out fine**  
**I think I'm still turning out**  
**You say I turned out fine**  
**I think I'm still turning out**  
**I think I'm still turning out**

**In my mind**  
**I thought the birds would sing and sparks would fly**  
**But it's just quiet**  
**Am I cruel?**  
**Or am I ignorant or was I fooled**  
**By the stories I knew?**

**Am I ready for love?**  
**Or maybe just a best friend**  
**Should there be a difference**  
**Do you have instructions?**  
**Maybe I'm stuck on what I see on TV**  
**I grew up on Disney**  
**But this don't feel like Disney**

**You say I turned out fine**  
**I think I'm still turning out**  
**You say I turned out fine**  
**I think I'm still turning out**  
**I hope you stick around**  
**We're gonna figure it out**  
**Who can I turn to now?**  
**When I'm still turning out**  
**When I'm still turning out**

**I'm a little kid, and so are you**  
**Don't you go and grow up before I do**  
**I'm a little kid with so much doubt**  
**Do you want to be there to see how I turn out?**  
**I'm a little kid, and so are you**  
**Don't you go and grow up before I do**  
**I'm a little kid with so much doubt**  
**Do you want to be there to see how I turn out?**  
**I'm a little kid, and so are you**  
**Don't you go and grow up before I do**  
**I'm a little kid with so much doubt**  
**Do you want to be there to see how I turn out?**  
**I'm a little kid, and so are you**  
**Don't you go and grow up before I do**  
**I'm a little kid with so much doubt**  
**Do you want to be there to see how I turn out?**

**'Cause I'm still turning out**

**Turning Out ~ AJR**

  _Arya_

" _That boy is in love with you_ ," Syrio had told her at the Christmas pageant two nights ago when Gendry clapped and cheered for the girls that Arya had helped for the day. " _You better be in love with him, too_." Arya had smiled and told Syrio that she did, resolving to forget it as soon as he said it. Gendry wasn’t in love with her. He was only pretending because she had asked him, too. Syrio had probably just said it to be polite, but now all she could think about was that Syrio had always been perceptive. She knocks on Sansa's door. Sansa opens the door and raises her eyebrows a little.

"Where's Margaery?" She asks. She liked Margaery, but she just wanted to talk to her sister.

"Shower," she says, slowly, probably trying to figure out why Arya is acting strange.

"Can you please braid my hair or whatever it is you do?" Arya asks as she walks into Sansa's room. Sansa smiles and grabs a brush. She motions for Arya to sit at the vanity.

"You never let me do your hair," she comments as she brushes out Arya's shoulder length locks. Arya shrugs.

"Just wanted to do something different to it, I guess. I only ever wear it in like three ways."

"Are you trying to impress somebody?" Sansa coos. "Like Gendry?"

"I don't like Gendry," Arya snaps.

Sansa recoils a little at Arya's outburst. "Did something happen?" She asks cautiously as she separates Arya's hair into a few sections. Arya shakes her head. "Don't move your head!" Sansa grabs the side of her face. "Use your words."

"Nothing happened."

"Something happened," Sansa mutters and Arya see her flit her eyebrows up in the vanity's reflection.

Arya lets out a deep sigh. "I asked him to kiss me the other night to see what he would do and now all I can think about is kissing him. I don't think I actually want to kiss him, but I just wanted to know what it would be like, you know?"

Sansa nods and starts to braid a small section of Arya's hair. "Did he kiss you?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Arya shrugs. "He didn't want to, I guess. We've kissed a few times before, but that was before we really knew each other."

"I think he likes you," Sansa whispers. "He gazes at you like you hung the moon or something."

"Well, I would hope he likes me. We've been fucking each other for almost a year," Arya says sarcastically.

Sansa rolls his eyes. "You know what I meant. I think he _likes you_ likes you."

"No he doesn't." Sansa purses her lips but drops the subject. "And stop calling him 'Tank.' He hates it."

"Okay, I'll stop."

"Thank you."

"It's just... you never told me how after your first encounter with Gendry, you chose to do it again."

Arya blushes and pushes Sansa's hands away from her hair. "Nope. Nope, nope, we're not having this conversation," Arya grumbles and tries to leave Sansa's room. Sansa runs in front of her and blocks the door.

"I'm just trying to understand. You said that it hurt to walk."

"For like a day," Arya argues and tries to leave again.

"Tell me."

"No," Arya pushes Sansa's arms and tries to pry open the door.

"Arya. I deserve to know. If it happens in the apartment where I also have to live, I deserve to know why it's happening!" Sansa's voice gets higher as she wrestles with Arya to keep her trapped in the room.

"Fine," Arya hisses and stops fighting Sansa. "He was the first boy to make me- make me..." Arya covers her face. "I'm not gonna say it. You can fill in the blanks," Arya grumbles. Sansa steps aside to let Arya out and Arya nearly runs from the room. She would fix her hair herself. Her vulture of a sister was not going to get anymore details about her sex life.

-

The guests started arriving at one, and Arya greeted the first few with the rest of her family, but when more people started to come into the house, she lost track of who she had talked to and who she hadn’t, so she waited for the guests to come to her. “Merry Christmas, Ned! And Cat! I feel like I haven’t seen you two in forever!” Arya turns to the voice and grimaces a little, remembering the day that Gendry had told her about his parents. 

Gendry sees Robert and looks back to Arya, who bites her lip. He turns away to walk up the stairs and Arya follows him. "Gendry," she calls. "Gendry, wait!"

He shuts himself in the guest room, but he doesn't lock the door, so Arya slips in behind him. "It would've been nice of you to tell me he was gonna fucking be here," Gendry hisses and starts to gather his stuff.

"Are you leaving?"

"You didn't tell me Robert was going to be here! Yes, I'm leaving! I never would have came if I had known-"

"I didn't know, either! I swear."

Gendry looks up from his bag. "You knew I wouldn't have come if he was here, so you chose to just leave it out, huh?"

"Gendry! I would've told you if I knew! My father has sent him an invitation every year since his divorce, but he's never came before. I just assumed he wouldn't this year."

Gendry stares at Arya for a moment. "I hate him."

"I know."

"I'm not going to talk to him unless he notices me. Doubt he will. It only took him eighteen years the first time," Gendry mutters. Arya nods her understanding and reaches her hand out to Gendry's.

"I'm not above telling him to 'fuck off' if necessary," she teases. She probably wouldn't just because she didn't want to hurt her father's feelings, but the jest still made Gendry crack a little smile. He accepts her hand and follows her downstairs. She wants to tell her father that Robert is Gendry's biological dad to warn Ned in case anything happened, but Gendry doesn't leave her side. To be fair, he did warn her that he would just follow her around on Christmas when she convinced him to come up with her.

Arya introduces Gendry to countless guests and eats countless snacks and chips in between greeting people. Her Uncle Edmure arrives with his wife and son and Gendry makes a comment about the suspicious age of Roslin when they leave to visit someone else. “Your uncle has got to be at least thirty, and his wife looks sixteen.” Arya shrugs and eats another cookie. 

“My mother says that, too, but we’ve never told Uncle Edmure.”

"Arya!" Robert bellows and waves her over. Arya gives Gendry a pained look before she walks over to Robert. "You look more beautiful than ever! Just like Lyanna," he says and grabs her hands. She gives him a small smile and hopes that Gendry can escape while Robert reminisces about her poor Aunt Lyanna.

"Thank you, Robert," she says. He squeezes her hands and smiles back at her. Arya can definitely see the resemblance between him and Gendry. They had the same eyes and chin, but Arya hoped Gendry would turn out to be nothing like Robert based on the stories her brothers had told her about him. Arya starts to think of all the ways she could escape without seeming rude to her father's best friend. But Robert was dying, and this Christmas would probably be his last, so she figured it wouldn't hurt to just humor him for a moment.

“You look just like Lyanna,” he says again. “I miss her so much.” Arya shifts uncomfortably. Arya had never met Lyanna before she passed away, but her mother had told her that Lyanna never really loved Robert. Robert smiles sadly at her before he looks to someone close behind her. Gendry hadn’t followed her when Robert called her over, but the idiot didn’t try to hide either. Robert wrinkles his forehead and focuses on Gendry.

“Well it was so nice to see you again, Robert, but I was just on my way to help my mother. We can catch up later!" She promises with her best society girl smile. Robert grins and lets her go.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think he would call me over," Arya assures when she makes it back to Gendry. Gendry shakes his head.

"It's fine. It wasn’t your fault," he says. Arya's mother didn't actually need help with anything, but she couldn't think of any other justifiable reasons to leave.

"I think Jon and Ygritte are hiding in the basement if you want to escape for a little while?" she suggests. "Jon doesn't really like to be around a lot of people, either." Gendry smiles a little and nods. Arya starts to walk towards the basement with Gendry at her side, but she sees Sansa and Margaery hiding in a small room by the staircase. She pops her head into the doorway and laughs a little before she walks in. "Hey. What are you two hiding for? Don't you two live for parties?" she teases and Gendry follows.

Sansa shrugs a little. "The party gets bigger every year and..." she reaches for Margaery's hand. "I'm sick of all the people. It's been seven hours and we still have at least four left," she grumbles. Margaery rolls her eyes.

"I think it's been fun," Margaery supplies. Gendry raises his eyebrows a little at her but doesn't comment. "What? You don't like parties?" She asks.

"I like parties," he argues. “If I can drink some free beer and then go home after an hour."

Arya laughs. "You _hate_ parties. At Sansa and Margaery's Halloween party you asked if we could leave after an hour and a half."

Gendry sighs. "Well I think that Sansa might have been a little too inebriated to notice so I don't know why we couldn't have left. No offense to either of you. I’m sure it was a wonderful party."

"I don't take it personally," Margaery assures with a smile. "I'm sure Sansa was probably freaking you out with all of her talk about my ass, too."

Sansa blushes a little. "It was only good things," she argues and Margaery raises her eyebrows. Sansa rolls her eyes and pecks her lips before she laughs.

"Ew! Get a room!” Arya teases and pretends to turn her face away to gag. Gendry laughs at her, but abruptly stops when he sees someone standing the doorway. Sansa looks up.

"So that's why you wouldn't sleep with me," the boy sneers.

"Get the hell out of here, Joffrey. Your father was invited, but you weren't," Arya hisses.

"Do Mommy and Daddy Stark know about their precious daughter Sansa?" He tilts his head and smiles cruelly. 

"Joffrey," Sansa pleads. Arya bolts towards the door and Joffrey runs back towards the party. Gendry, Sansa, and Margaery all follow behind her, but Joffrey is already shouting for the party's attention. Gendry grabs Arya's wrist to hold her back from hitting the boy, but she tugs against him as Joffrey's nasally voice fills the room.

"Arya," he hisses. "You can't hit him. You know that."

"Isn't this party wonderful? Ned and Catelyn have truly outdone themselves this year!" A few people murmur in agreement and Sansa gulps behind Arya, waiting for him to drop the bomb. "Christmas is a time to bring families together, and what better family to bring together than the Starks and Tyrells? Ned and Catelyn's little Sansa has found her way into Margaery's heart, so why don't we make a toast to the new couple?" Joffrey smirks at Sansa as Ned and Catelyn stare her down.

"Sansa," Ned sighs. "Is Joffrey telling us the truth? Are you in a... relationship with Margaery?"

"You listen here, you little shit," Robert bellows as he grabs Joffrey's ear to pull him down to his height in his wheelchair. "That was none of your business! Do you hear me? None of your business! We're going! And you're going back to your mother's!" Robert wheels out of the room and attempts to drag Joffrey along with him. "You come here and ruin my Christmas!" Robert continues to yell at him as they leave through the front door and Arya wants to scream that it didn't ruin _his_ Christmas, but his stupid prick of a son could've ruined Sansa's entire fucking life.

Sansa tries not to cry as Ned and Catelyn continue to study her.

"Sansa..." Catelyn breathes out. "Did Joffrey tell us the truth?"

"I..." Sansa swallows thickly. Margaery looks down at her hands. It wasn't a secret that Margaery had been a lesbian, but their parents had never noticed in the three years the girls had been friends.

"Oh my Gosh," Cat exhales sharply. Everyone in the room tries not to make any noise. Gendry shifts uncomfortably beside her and Arya squeezes his arm to make him stop. His jittering was making her nervous.

Arya runs through all of the scenarios she could come up with to save Sansa from this humiliation. She could drop the good old fashioned pregnancy scare, but that would humiliate Gendry. She desperately tries to come up with something else, but she doesn't think fast enough. "He's right," Sansa chokes out. Ned and Cat sigh a little and Sansa turns away before she starts to cry. She turns on her heel and nearly runs into Theon, who had just arrived, on her way out and shoves him aside.

"What'd I miss?" He teases, but Robb only shakes his head at Theon. Arya waits a moment to see if her parents will go after her, but when neither make a move to go, Arya lets out a huff and glares at her parents before she leaves the living room with Margaery at her tail. They clamber up the steps to Sansa's room and Arya knocks on her closed door.

"Sansa? It's me and Margaery," Arya calls softly.

She hears Sansa sniffle behind the door. "Come in," she whispers before her voice breaks again. Arya pushes open the door and nearly runs to her sister.

Arya pulls herself up on the bed by her and wraps her arms around her shoulders. "I love you, Sansa. I'm so sorry, I love you," she soothes, stroking her hair softly. Arya isn't great at comforting people when they cry, but she doesn't want to leave her sister alone. Margaery shifts from leg to leg in the doorway, but Arya motions for her to come in. Margaery slowly sits on the bed on the other side of Sansa and lays a hand on her back. Sansa shifts away from Margaery's touch, and Margaery pulls back her hand, almost as if she had been burned. Arya sees Margaery swallow thickly and blink a few times, attempting not to cry.

"I need to leave," she whispers.

Arya shakes her head rapidly. "No, Margaery. Sansa needs you," she insists. Sansa doesn't back Arya up, and only chokes back another sob.

"Sansa, you need Margaery. I know you're upset, but you need her," Arya hisses. She would let her sister grieve but she would not let Sansa chase Margaery away. Margaery brought Sansa so much joy it made Arya sick sometimes. And Sansa was not allowed to lose her.

Sansa cries some more before she finally nods a tiny bit. "I-" she starts, before someone else knocks at the door.

"Sansa," Ned calls. "It's your mother and me. May we come in?"

Sansa sucks in a breath through her teeth, before she calls out a small "yes."

Ned and Cat timidly step through the door and take in the sight of Arya comforting her sister with Margaery by her side. "May we have a moment alone with Sansa?" Ned asks. Margaery nods and leaves the room. Arya hesitates and clutches Sansa, before Sansa gives her a small nod, letting her know it's okay to go. Arya slowly stands and meets Margaery outside, before shutting the door behind her. Margaery wipes away a few tears. "I never should have come here. Sansa had warned me that your parents were..." she trails off, not wanting to insult the Starks in front of Arya. Arya took no insult, understanding her stance. Margaery had loved Sansa, and now Sansa was suffering because of it. "I need to get my stuff to leave, but..." she motions to Sansa's door.

"I can meet you with it tomorrow somewhere if you'd like?"

"Thank you, Arya, but my plane doesn't leave for two more days. I'll have no where else to go," she sighs. Arya leads Margaery away from Sansa's room and into an empty bedroom. "What are the odds that out of six children, only one is gay, but out of my brother and me, it's both?" Margaery mutters. "It's not fair to Sansa. Loras and I had each other when we told the truth. My family is accepting of it, but Sansa... she's all alone in this."

"She has me," Arya protests. "And Bran. We love her just the same."

"Of course you do, Arya. But you don't know what it's like to be her. Everything about her is something your parents don't accept. I know you do things like getting tattoos and _having_ _sex_ _in_ _your_ _family_ _home_ ," Margaery emphasizes, but there is still teasing in her voice. Arya blushes. "I know you think you're secretive, but Sansa and I heard you and Gendry coming up from the cellar that night. Thank God we didn't hear anything before that. But those are small things about you. Sansa and I are just like everyone else, but being gay can't be a small thing to people like your parents. It can't be a changed behavior. They can't control it. They just have to accept it or not. And we don't always know how they'll choose."

Arya wants to believe her parents will choose the right thing, but as she waits in the bedroom with a fretting Margaery, it's harder to believe they could accept her. Arya didn't want to think about how her life would turn out without Sansa. Nothing would ever be the same. They sit in silence for a while, waiting for Sansa or their parents or something. Arya quickly thinks of Gendry, imagining the poor bloke awkwardly sitting with her brothers still, not sure if it's appropriate to find Arya even though she was comforting her exposed sister or if he went back to the guest room to be alone. Arya tries to stand up, just to get water, but Margaery reaches for her hand, clasping it like her life depends on it. "Please, don't leave. I don't want to worry alone," she says, the desperation in her voice making Arya feel like her heart may break. No one had ever loved Sansa this much, and it wasn't fair that Sansa might lose her because her parents didn't believe in this.

Arya and Margaery whip their heads around to Sansa's door when they hear it open. Ned emerges and Sansa follows behind them, smiling with their mother at her side. Arya nearly lets out a sigh of relief to see Catelyn brush away similar tears with a small smile on her face. Ned motions to Margaery and she approaches cautiously. "Young lady, I love my daughter very much. I would not like to see you hurt her."

"Yes, sir," she says and stands up straight.

"And if you still plan on staying, we'll need to move you out of Sansa's room. Cat is going to put new sheets in the bedroom across the hall from us and you'll be staying there."

"Yes, sir. Thank you. Sir." She adds, again. Arya has to hide her excitement of Sansa's acceptance. She had nearly ripped her hair out with worry, but here her father was, giving Margaery the same talk he had given Gendry when they placed him in the guest room just down the hall from her parents’ room as well.

Arya slips away from Margaery and Sansa and their parents to go back down to save Gendry. One of the twins had decided to climb into Gendry's lap and Gendry seemed to be fine when Arya came back into the living room. He was playing with Eddy by pretending to bite Eddy's stomach with the small dinosaur toy Gendry held in his hand. Eddy giggles and Gendry smiles. Arya watches him for a second before she walks into the living room.

"I thought you didn't like kids?" She asks, raising her eyebrow.

"I don't not like kids," Gendry shrugs and sets Eddy down to see Arya. "I just don't really know what to do with them," he admits and sets the toy down by his foot. Arya grins at him and shakes her head as she lifts Eddy. "How's Sansa?" He asks softly.

Arya gives him a small smile. "My dad is giving Margaery the 'if you hurt my daughter' talk, so I think Sansa's going to be okay."

Gendry grins. "That's good. I didn't like Joffrey. He seemed like a little pr-" Gendry cuts himself off when he realizes there's a child present. Arya nods at him.

"Where's the other one?" she asks, referring to Eddard's twin, Lyarra. Gendry shrugs and grimaces a little.

"Eddy, where's Lyarra?" Eddy ignores him, more interested in Arya's necklace.

"I have her," Talisa says as she walks in with Lyarra in her arms. Robb follows behind her with a hand on her lower back. Eddy squirms a little in Arya's arms, so Arya sets him down to get to Robb. The rest of Arya's brothers come into the living room after seeing off the rest of the guests who were at the party. Their friends and family usually stayed for a few more hours, but most of them were probably uncomfortable with the revelation about Sansa.

"Arya how does it feel knowing that out of six kids, you're the only one not into chicks," Theon teases. Arya rolls her eyes as she sits down by Gendry.

"Unless you're hiding something?" Bran adds.

Arya grabs Gendry's thigh to make her brothers uncomfortable. "I like boys," she assures. Poor Gendry blushes beside her and pushes her hand away as he looks away from her four brothers and Theon. Robb looks down at his hands, too, probably remembering the most traumatic moment of his life last month. "I know that all too well," Robb mutters. Jon grimaces as Theon guffaws.

Arya wonders if Robb had told Jon and Theon as well, and that's why Jon had tried to threaten Gendry despite Gendry being much bigger. Ned and Catelyn come down into the family room and sit down on the couches. Sansa and Margaery follow behind and Sansa clutches her hand like her life depends on it.

"Well, I'm disappointed that we aren't able to meet Bran's girlfriend of almost one year tonight, but I'm glad that all of my children are together with the person they love," Ned says and gives everyone a warm smile.

Arya grins a little at her sister as Sansa blinks back some happy tears. Arya and Sansa had talked often about the possible outcomes, but Ned and Catelyn were taking the news better than they ever could have hoped for.

"Meera is considering coming here for New Years," Bran lies. Arya knew that Bran hadn't even asked Meera to visit, but she doesn't say anything. Ned studies Bran for a moment. Bran shifts a little and Ned continues to stare at him, trying to see through the lie. "Meera's family doesn't celebrate Christmas," he finally breaks. "Because her family is Jewish."

"I see."

Bran stares blankly at Ned for a moment. "Sansa likes girls and you're upset because Meera is Jewish?" Sansa tries to defend herself, but she just stares at Bran. "And Talisa wasn't even religious when she married Robb." Talisa grimaces a little and bounces Lyarra on her hip, turning away from the argument.

"Arya has sex with Gendry!" Robb protests, trying to protect his wife. Rickon lets out a snort, but doesn’t say anything.

"What the hell did I do?" Arya cries and glares at Robb. "I'm literally just sitting here, minding my business!" Gendry covers his face beside her. All of Arya’s brothers turn to look at her and she shakes her hands at Robb.

"Arya, is that true?" Arya gapes at her father.

"Did you not hear Bran? Sansa dates girls and you're upset because I do common adult activities!"

Ned purses his lips. "Sansa cannot help that she likes girls. You can help that you are having premarital sex," Ned says and Arya groans. "And I am not mad that Meera is Jewish, Bran. I'm just concerned about how you're going to raise your children."

Arya and Bran share a look. "This family is a fucking nightmare," she mutters.

"I'm nineteen, Dad! Meera's only twenty! We're not having children yet! We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Ned nods, showing that he approves of Bran's response. He turns to Arya, waiting for her defense. Arya opens her mouth and closes it. Robb is going to wish he had never born. She didn’t know she would get him back just yet, but she would get him back. Asshole.

“Well, if we have accepted Sansa tonight, surely we can accept Meera for who she is as well. And Arya. Do any of our other children want to get something off their chest while we’re at? It is Christmas, after all.”

“I got a D on my math test,” Rickon grimaces. Ned sighs but nods.

“I only have four months of service left,” Jon says with a grin.

“That’s not really something we need to accept, but thank you, Jon.” Arya smiles at Jon, excited to spend her summer with him after only getting to see him a few weekends out of every year.

“Talisa and I are having another baby,” Robb announces. “She’s due in August,” he says with a grin. Arya feels happy to have another niece or nephew, but remembers that she hates Robb right now, so she congratulates Talisa only. Catelyn hugs them both and coos that the twins are going to be big siblings, and they grin at her.

“Do you have anything you would like to contribute, Theon?” Ned asks.

“Well, last weekend I was having sex w-”

“Never mind, that’s okay. We accept you, Theon.” Theon shrugs and smiles at Ned.

“Well, I think we’ve all had a long day,” Catelyn says and kisses Eddy’s forehead. She steps towards Talisa and kisses Lyarra’s forehead, too. “Goodnight, everyone. Merry Christmas,” she smiles. “I love you all.”

Everyone responds with another “Merry Christmas” and Arya watches her parents leave up the stairs.

“You are dead to me,” she hisses to Robb.

“I’m sorry! It’s not like you were doing a great job of hiding it, though,” he grumbles back. “Sansa said that you two had sex in the cellar when you first got here.” Jon open his mouth, but Arya shoots him a glare and dares him to comment. Arya turns to Sansa and raises her eyebrows.

Sansa grimaces. “I didn’t think he was going to tell on you! How was I supposed to know?” Arya shrugs and glares at Robb again.

“I’m sorry,” he pleads again. “I love you.”

Arya rolls her eyes. “Fine, but if I get in trouble tomorrow, you’re going to regret that comment for the rest of your life.” Robb sighs.

“Fine. Talisa and I need to put the twins to bed, so goodnight everyone,” he says, pulling Eddy up to rest his head on his shoulder. Talisa follows with Lyarra and bids a goodnight to all of them as well. 

 “In the _cellar_? Arya-“

”Oh, save it, Jon. I’m sure if you didn’t follow your Catholic boy rules so strictly, you would take me into the cellar for a go,” Ygritte says. Jon turns a bright shade of red and Arya grins at Ygritte for shutting her brother up.

 “Wasn’t it cold down there?” Theon asks. “I feel like that’s the worst place to go. Shower’s are the stellar option because it’s warm and it’s generally noise masking-“

”Can we not discuss this maybe?” Gendry pipes up. “I’m sure we’re all very miserable to be thinking about it.”

”I’m not,” Arya quips and shrugs. 

“Oh my God,” Bran and Rickon sigh at the same time. “I’m miserable thinking about it. I used to go down there to sneak bottles for parties and now I will never be able to go down there again,” Rickon grumbles. 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa kid, you’re stealing alcohol for parties?” Jon asks and turns to Rickon. 

“I mean, I only did it twice.”

”If you need alcohol, I’ll get it for you if you just give me the money,” Theon says and Jon glares at him. 

“You don’t need to drink alcohol to be cool, Rickon,” Jon promises.

”I’m sure that’s why you were so popular in high school, Jon,” Bran teases. 

Ygritte laughs and pokes his stomach. “Awwe, Jon, were you nerdy?” 

Jon rolls his eyes and bats Ygritte’s hand away. “I wasn’t _unpopular_.” 

“You need alcohol to be cool. You can have friends if you don’t drink, but you can get the girls if you do drink,” Theon says. 

”Rickon only has eyes for one girl,” Bran teases. “His freshman year babysitter.”

”She wasn’t my babysitter,” he grumbles. 

“Shireen? Rickon, you like Shireen?” Arya asks and raises her eyebrows “Isn’t she a little old for you, bud?”

Rickon rolls his eyes. “Isn’t Gendry a little old for you?” He shoots back. 

“I’m only twenty-three!” Gendry argues. “I’ll be twenty-four in a few months, but I promise I’m not that much older.”

Rickon rolls his eyes. “Shireen told me I was cute.”

”Yeah, when you were fifteen. She told everyone they were cute two years ago. She probably told _Stannis_ he was cute,” Arya argues. 

“Whatever, Arya. I’m almost out of high school and when I join the military for real, Shireen will see that I’m not a kid anymore.” Rickon stands up from his seat on the couch. “Goodnight,” he says and leaves the room. 

“I’m gonna go to bed, too,” Jon says and stands. 

Ygritte pecks him on the lips and stays in the living room. ”Did you at least bring a blanket into the cellar?”

”Oh my God,” Gendry sighs and blushes.

Sansa laughs and smiles at Ygritte. “Oh, I like you, Ygritte.”

Arya grimaces a little. It was only fun to tease Jon and Robb because they got so uncomfortable, but now it was awkward with everyone else because it didn't bother them. “I’m gonna go to bed now,” Arya mumbles and stands. 

“Me, too,” Gendry says. 

“My room is right next to yours,” Sansa teases Arya. 

“And mine is next to yours now, Gendry,” Margaery chimes in with a giggle. 

Gendry blushes and trudges up the stairs. “We’re never having sex anywhere but my apartment ever again,” he mutters when the reach the second floor. Arya rolls her eyes at him, but something in the doorway catches her eye. 

“Ah, shit.” Arya says and looks up. “Mistletoe.” Gendry stares at her for a second and Arya takes a slow breath. “But we don’t have to-“

"It's bad luck," he insists. He's going to kiss her. She knows it when he grabs the nape of her neck and pushes her towards him with his other hand on her lower back. He presses his lips to hers and Arya can't tell if there are actual fireworks going off at her neighbor’s house or if she feels fireworks in her nerves like in the stupid movies she used to watch with Sansa. She doesn't have time to come to her senses before Gendry pulls away and leans down to her ear. "Merry Christmas, Arya,” he whispers before he walks away from her and into the guest room. Arya hesitates on whether or not she should go after him, but instead she is left staring stupidly at his door with her mouth wide open.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg so this was kind of a long chapter yikes but basically it’s gonna be a hot minute before i update the next part because i’m stuck but i promise the next two chapters after that are done and then i just have the epilogue left to write so this will be finished in time for season 8!!! (it might be 26 minutes before the premiere but it will def be done lol)


	15. better than sex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arya's POV: gendry and arya celebrate valentine’s day in their own way (also i usually just add the songs to chapters bc it makes me happy even with the assumption that no one will care but pls i beg if you have three minutes, listen to this song bc it makes me laugh i love it for this story)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter and the next chapter are relatively short because i keep wanting to switch POVs and i keep rewriting this stupid ish and im MAD about it so i hope this was worth it lol there's two more chapters after this and then i just need to write the epilogue!

 

**Walking on the beach with you**  
**Writing love songs in my room,**  
**Candlelit dinner for two (that's not better than)**

**Staying up to watch you sleep**  
**Letting down your hair for me**  
**Biting your lip seductively (that's not better than)**

**Baby we could keep beating round the bush about this**  
**But it's pretty simple, you make me happy but-**

**That's not better than sex**  
**You're making me a wreck**  
**You're kissing on my neck**  
**That's not better than**

**Movie nights and duvet days**  
**Making out and playing games**  
**Hickey marks and soppy names (that's not better than)**

**Me and you skinny dipping**  
**We're on my laptop FaceTiming**  
**You're showing me a bit of skin (that's not better than)**

**Look I'm falling in love with you**  
**And we'll probably get married someday, and that's great n everything**

**That's not better than sex**  
**You're making me a wreck**  
**You're kissing on my neck**  
**But that's not better than sex**  
**You're getting me obsessed**  
**Sending me dirty texts**  
**But that's not better than sex**  
**That's not better than sex**  
**That's not better**

**My bottle shaken up, but you don't give enough**

**You touch me, caress me, tie me up, undress me**  
**We do stuff, in handcuffs, we film it, and play rough**  
**We film it, and play rough and that's cool**

**But that's not better than sex**  
**You're making me a wreck**  
**You're kissing on my neck**  
**But that's not better than sex**  
**You're getting me obsessed**  
**Sending me dirty texts**  
**But that's not better than sex**

**The first time I met your parents**  
**That's not better than sex**  
**When I gave you the keys to my flat**  
**That's not better than sex**  
**Watching you walk down the aisle**  
**That's not better than sex**

**Better Than Sex ~ Midnight Beast**

  _Arya_

They don't talk about the kiss. Gendry goes home the next morning like she had promised him he could, and she doesn't bring it up. She thought about it all the time and tried to ask him, but she couldn't make herself. She felt stupid, but she was scared he would say that it didn't mean anything. And it shouldn't have, because it was just under mistletoe, and everyone knew that it was bad luck if you didn't kiss under mistletoe, but the stupid kiss made her _feel_ things. "Arya! You have to focus! I don't know where you've been today, but you're not here. The show is in April, and if you're not ready, I will have to cut your act from the recital," Her freshman ballet professor, Jaqen H'ghar, threatens.

"Yes, sir," she says. She wasn't going to be cut from her solo just because Gendry decided to kiss her.

"Straighten your back," his assistant, the Waif, nags. She probably had a real name, but Arya wasn't about to ask three months into the production. Arya stands up straighter, but Professor H'ghar steps forward and places a hand on her shoulders and his other on her abdomen.

"Tighten your stomach and push your shoulders back. You're twenty, this isn't new to you," he chastises and Arya lets out a small huff. She wasn't a child.

"Are you going to check to make sure I laced my slippers correctly, too?" She mumbles, expecting Professor H'ghar to send her home or tell her to fuck off, but he lets out a laugh and gives her a small smirk.

"I'm sure you're more than capable."

-

"So, I know these tickets are for a concert on Valentine's Day, but that's a minor detail."

"That's actually perfect, though. If we go to a concert together, then I can post a picture of us on Valentine's Day so my mom doesn't call me a hundred times to make sure we didn't break up."

"Your mom still thinks we're dating?"

"That's a minor detail," she mimics. Gendry shakes his head and rolls his eyes at her, but hands her the ticket anyway. 

**(A/N they're going to a concert but picking a band/artist that modern gendrya would enjoy was extra stressful so please just use your imagination im a mess i know)**

“If we leave now we won’t have to wait for everyone else and we can just go,” Arya says as the band performs the last song. Her and Gendry had walked out to his truck during the encore expecting only a few other people to leave to get out of the lot early, but apparently several people had the same idea.

”If we wait for everyone else to leave then we can avoid traffic and have an easy drive home.”

”I have an 8am econ lecture tomorrow, I want to get home.”

Gendry shrugs. “You should’ve driven yourself.”

Arya rolls her eyes but waits for a few minutes with Gendry anyway. Why did she never just drive places herself?

”You’re 23 and scared of a little traffic?” She teases.

”I don’t trust you in my truck on the highway anymore,” he grumbles.

”That was one time and I used to do it in Jon’s truck for years.”

”Probably because you lived in the middle of nowhere with him. There were no other cars on the highways. This isn’t an invitation to stand in the bed again by the way, I’m considering putting a child lock on the windows,” Gendry teases. Arya sticks her tongue out at him and he grabs it with his thumb and index finger.

Arya laughs and pushes his arm away. “Quit it, you dick.”

“You’re the one who’s sticking your tongue out at me, but okay.” 

 Arya shakes her head at him and looks around the parking lot. She sticks her finger in his empty belt loop and moves over to sit by him. “Parking lot’s empty, now.”

”Thought you had an 8am lecture tomorrow? Don’t you want to get home?”

Arya shrugs. “It’s only 1 right now. She slips her hand into the top of his jeans. “Can I-“

“This is illegal, Arya.”

”I wasn’t gonna ask if it was legal. I was gonna ask if you wanted me to suck your cock.”

“Jesus, Arya.”

Arya raises her eyebrows at him. “So is that a yes...” Gendry nods and helps her unbutton his jeans and tug them down to his mid thigh. 

“Please, God, don’t let me get arrested.” Arya laughs and drags her nails down the front of his shirt. She slides her hand under his shirt to run her hand along his abdomen before she leans down. She pulls her hair out of her face and Gendry grabs it. 

“Thanks,” she mutters and Gendry can only give her a small nod of acknowledgement when she wraps her hand around the base of him. She runs her thumb along the underside. She slowly slides her hand to the top and rubs her palm over the head where his arousal is beading up at the tip. She brings her lips down to wrap them around his cock and he clenches a fist in her hair. She takes a deep breath through her nose and tries to fit as much of his cock as she can in her mouth. He hits the back of her throat and Gendry lets out a strangled noise like a groan and a gasp. 

She almost laughs at the sound and looks up at him to see him biting his fist. He catches her eyes and turns away. “Don’t fucking give me those eyes,” he grunts and Arya almost laughs again. He drags his fingers through her hair with each bob of her head. “Fuck, Arya,” he hisses when she takes him down her throat. She pulls back up and swirls her tongue around the tip. He lets out a final groan and comes across her tongue. “Jesus fuck,” he sighs and Arya pulls her mouth away. 

"Happy Valentine's Day,” she teases and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand.

"I appreciate it," he pants.

"Can you drive?" she teases and leans over him to get to the side pocket of his door and and pulls a stick of gum out of the pack.

"I think I need a minute." Arya laughs and moves back to her seat.

"I would say take your time, but Sansa was expecting me home at midnight, so get it together," she teases. Gendry nods a little and zips his jeans back up before he gives her a small smile. She rolls her eyes but smiles back. Stupid.

 -

"Ned asked me on a date today."

"Ned _Dayne_?" Arya shrugs. "What did you say?"

"I told him that I'd let him know later."

"You needed time to think about it?' Gendry asks and raises his eyebrow.

"He's nice but I won't know if I like him unless we go on a real date." Gendry lets out a small snort but doesn't say anything else. "You might know from experience, so I have a theory that I'd like to share with you."

"Go ahead."

"I think Professor H'ghar has been coming on to me for the past month," Arya says with a laugh. “You might be able to confirm it for me.”

Gendry rolls his eyes. "It was one time and I didn't know who she was. Honestly, just fuck Professor H’ghar." Gendry grumbles.

"What do you think I'm trying to do?" She mocks. She thought Professor H’ghar's interest in her was a little weird, considering he was old enough to be her dad, but Gendry's jealousy makes her feel strangely warm and fuzzy. It's disgusting. She loves it.

"My name's Arya and I'm in love with my old and wrinkly ballet professor," he mimics.

"Shut up, I don't sound like that." Gendry shrugs. "And he isn't my ballet professor. He was last year, this year he's the director for April's recital."

"He's still old."

Arya rolls her eyes. "And I don't love him," she protests. She barely knew him as anything more than her past professor.

"You do," he argues.

"I don't."

"You want to fuck him, though."

"I want to fuck you, does that I mean I love you?"

"He's too old for you," Gendry says before he kisses her neck.

"My dad said you're too old for me."

"I don't want to talk about your dad right now."

"He's only thirty five."

"His hands are too soft," he argues and grabs her hips. She felt the calluses on his hands and rolls her eyes.

"Why does that matter? Because you don't have soft hands?"

Gendry slides his hands up her naked abdomen to her breasts. She covers his hands with her own. "His hands probably feel like a girl's."

"So?" Arya raises her eyebrows.

"So do you want to fuck a man or do you want to fuck a girl?"

"Oh he's too old for me, but he's not a man," she mocks. "Piss off," she shoves his shoulders. Gendry falls onto his back and smirks up at Arya. He moves his hands to rest on her thighs that are on each side of his waist.

"I bet he's small."

"You obviously haven't seen Jaqen in a leotard," she taunts.

"Oh, Jaqen? First name basis?"

"Are you jealous?"

"No. You've been calling me by my first name since we met. But that's probably because I'm in your age group."

"You had sex with one of your professors. While she was your professor."

Gendry gives her a stupid grin. "We went over this. I didn't know she was my professor." Arya rolls her eyes. "You wouldn't like soft hands."

"How do you know what I like? How do you know I didn't like the boys I fucked before you to have soft hands?"

"Because you're fucking me and not them," he remarks and inches his hand up her thigh.

"Maybe I'll text Ned Dayne. He has soft hands. Or the virgin from my history class."

"He's not a virgin. You defiled him," Gendry teases, sliding his hand over her cunt.

"Maybe I'll visit Jaqen-"

Gendry cuts her off when he slips two of his fingers inside her. "You wouldn't like soft hands." Arya shakes her head and digs her nails into his shoulder. "They'd feel like yours."

-

Gendry stands from her bed and pulls his jeans on.

"You can... stay," she says, cautiously. They had never actually established that they didn't spend the night at each other's places, but it was just something that they had never done before. "Sansa's away for the weekend," she elaborates.

"Oh," he says, plainly.

"Unless you're busy," she adds. "It's just kind of cold out and it's already dark if you didn't feel like walking back."

Gendry looks to her and out the window. He waits for a second before he shakes his head.

"Ah, no, no that's okay."

"Oh, okay."

"I've got to finish a paper by tomorrow night."

"Oh, well, good luck!" Arya says and gives him a small smile.

"Yeah, thanks, so I'll just, uh, I'll just go then," he says. He leaves through the apartment door and Arya buries her face in her pillow.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid_. He didn't like her. It was just one kiss. Why was she even bothering?

She knew that she was pining after Gendry pointlessly. She didn't like to consider what would happen after the agreement ended, if her and Gendry would still be friendly with each other, or if they would cut ties. She liked Gendry, but she had no idea what he was thinking, so she didn’t want to just assume what he wanted.

She’s going to have to move on, eventually. She lifts her head and picks up her phone to respond to Ned.

**Arya: hey how about we get dinner after the recital?**

**Ned: Sounds good! See you, then! :)**


	16. never enough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gendry's POV: Gendry goes to Arya's recital and brooding ensues

 

**I'm trying to hold my breath**  
**Let it stay this way**  
**Can't let this moment end**  
**You set off a dream in me**  
**Getting louder now**  
**Can you hear it echoing?**  
**Take my hand**  
**Will you share this with me?**  
**'Cause darling without you**

**All the shine of a thousand spotlights**  
**All the stars we steal from the nightsky**  
**Will never be enough**  
**Never be enough**  
**Towers of gold are still too little**  
**These hands could hold the world but it'll**  
**Never be enough**  
**Never be enough**

**For me**  
**Never, never**  
**Never, never**  
**Never, for me**  
**For me**  
**Never enough**  
**Never enough**  
**Never enough**  
**For me**  
**For me**  
**For me**

**All the shine of a thousand spotlights**  
**All the stars we steal from the nightsky**  
**Will never be enough**  
**Never be enough**  
**Towers of gold are still too little**  
**These hands could hold the world but it'll**  
**Never be enough**  
**Never be enough**

**For me**  
**Never, never**  
**Never, never**  
**Never, for me**  
**For me**  
**Never enough**  
**Never, never**  
**Never enough**  
**Never, never**  
**Never enough**  
**For me**  
**For me**  
**For me**

**For me**

**Never Enough ~ Loren Allred**

  _Gendry_

The weekend before Arya's show, she convinced Gendry that he needed to watch _The Greatest Showman_ with her because she had never seen it, and her solo was to a song from the film. Gendry complies, but only because she promises to buy him beer.

Gendry would never tell Arya, but he liked the movie, even if it was only because of how passionate she was about it. When Caroline had her first dance recital, and the "little bitches" according to Arya, made fun of her, she had said how she would put glass in their slippers and see who was laughing then. She was quite a violent person. When her song started to play, she made Gendry get off of his phone and listen to it with her. "Gendry. In five days, I get to dance to this song completely solo. It's my first solo dance since I started college."

"I know, Arya." He responds.

She wraps her hands around his arm and rests her head on him. Arya had touched him more than she used to since Christmas, and Gendry was still trying to decide if he liked it or not.

"Not completely solo, I guess. Ned will dance with me, but only for a few seconds."

"Just hide his slippers, and then he can't dance with you." Gendry wants to ask if she ever got back to Ned about a date, but he doesn’t want to seem like he’s too interested in her current relationship status, so he ignores it.

"We have a backup, Gendry. God I might need you to change the oil in my car every three months, but you really know nothing."

"Arya, what pressure are your car tires supposed to be at?"

"What's first position?" She retorts.

"Adam and Eve did it in missionary, I assume." Arya lets out a snort. "I'm kidding, it's when you do the duck thing with your feet and bend your arms like you're holding a beach ball."

"You're close enough," She shrugs and nuzzles his arm.

_Be_ _still_ _my_ _dumbass_ _heart_ , he thinks. She just wants attention.

"You're very needy, tonight," he teases, motioning to his arm.

"I'm just cold," she says, letting go of his arm and pulling up a blanket from the edge of her bed.

"Let me warm you up," he says, while tugging his shirt off. He pulls Arya to him and kisses her neck.

-

“ _There_ ," Arya gasps, dragging her fingers through Gendry’s hair. "Right there." She rolls her hips against him. He digs his fingers into her hips, pulling her closer to him. She lets out a shaky moan. Her face is so close to his that he could kiss her. He wants to kiss her. He thrusts, emitting a quiet cry from her, and her lips part. Her eyes close. He starts to lean up.

She lets out a frustrated groan and sits up straight. Her eyes shoot open, and Gendry starts to panic. She might know he had meant to kiss her, but chickened out. She looks him in the eyes and he holds her gaze. _Don't_ _back_ _down_. _She_ _can probably smell_   _fear_.

"It's not doing it for me," she huffs.

"What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to fuck me, but you're being abnormally gentle. Just fuck me."

"Your recital is in five days.”

"Well, just... put some force in your thrust or something, God. I feel like I'm losing my virginity,” she mocks and rolls her eyes.

"Let me on top."

"Missionary sex is for people who are married and have vanilla sex lives, Gendry." Gendry rolls his eyes and helps Arya move to face away from him in his lap.

He's not sure how it can be any better than what they were doing, but he doesn’t question Arya. She presses her back into his chest and grinds her hips against him. He grabs onto one of her thighs and spreads her legs wider. She pushes back closer to him, and he reaches up her shirt to massage her breasts. She grabs at the arm Gendry has wrapped around her as leverage to ride him, and digs his fingers into her thigh. Her nails scratch against his arm and she lets out a small moan. He matches her pace with his hips, and rubs a small circle on the inside of the thigh he's still holding. Gendry lets go of her thigh and uses his now free hand to grab the side of her face. He whispers something in her ear dirty enough to make her blush, and nips at her earlobe. She lets out a higher moan, and Gendry smirks against her neck.

He trails his hand from her face down the front of her body and in between her legs. She shudders at his touch. Arya covers his hand with her own to guide him and scrapes her back against his chest.

"You can do better than that," he says, pressing his lips to the tattoo on her neck.

"You want my neighbors to hear or something?" She huffs. Gendry shrugs a little and pulls his hand away from her breasts to rub across her ribcage. She pushes his hand back up and Gendry laughs against her neck.

"Gendry," she sighs, squeezing her legs against him. He bites her ear, thrusting harder against her. She throws her head back a little and lets out another sigh. She stops moving her fingers with his and shudders a little. Her legs shake against his thighs and she reaches her hand behind her head to grab his hair. 

He leans forward to kiss her back as she climaxes, finding his release a moment later. "You happy now?" He teases, pulling out of her. 

“Oh, I’m very happy,” she sighs and rolls onto her back. “I think Sansa’s gonna be home soon, so you probably want to get out of here.” Gendry smiles at her and gets dressed. He pulls his shirt on and Arya sits up. She grabs her sweatpants to walk him to the door. He leaves and she locks it behind him.

“Arya Stark, you are dead to me!" Sansa shouts from her room. Arya lets out a snort and walks to her sister’s bedroom. Sansa rips her earbuds out and throws the pillow she was clutching at Arya’s head. Arya ducks to dodge the pillow. 

“Hey, Sansa. I didn’t know you were home,” Arya grimaces. 

“God, I fucking hope you didn’t,” she mutters. 

“Sorry.”

Sansa rolls her eyes and bangs the wall. She bangs it again and Arya raises her eyebrows as she keeps banging her palm against it. “You were doing _this_ for the past twenty minutes. Do you know what it was like to have to listen to that? I have my biochem final tomorrow morning and I had to be here to listen to _that_. Choke on your ‘sorry.’ Bitch.”

Arya stifles a laugh. “Okay, goodnight, Sansa,” she mumbles, knowing she’s better off to leave the room before Sansa plans her murder. “I love you.”

”I hate you, right now. On every single level of hate that I possess, I somehow feel all of them for you.”

Arya nods and steps out of the room. She was never having sex with Gendry anywhere but in his apartment again. 

**(a/n oh shit i just realized the last nine paragraphs were in arya’s pov and it was supposed to be gendry but i dont want to cut that bc ive cut too many things in this fic u will enjoy this sibling interaction and that is final)**

-

"Gendry! Are you on your way to my recital?"

"Yeah, I'm almost there,” he lies. Gendry had stopped to get her some flowers, so his intentions were good, but he probably should have left sooner.

"I need you to turn around!"

"What?"

"I left my hair bun at your apartment!"

"You have like fifty of them, though?"

"That's my lucky one! Every time I wear it things go perfectly. When I don't... things don't go as planned."

"It's gonna take me at least fifteen minutes to get it to you.”

"The show starts in ten! I don't go on until scene three, so you better hurry!"

Gendry would never admit it to Arya, but as soon as he pays for her flowers, he runs as fast as he can to his apartment. He's wearing some of his nicer clothes, which makes it harder to run, but at least most of his sweat would be unnoticeable. The walk to the theatre is long, but the jog is fast. He makes it in the middle of scene two. He has never been backstage before, but logic suggests the dark hallway leading to the back of the stage is the safest route.

"You can't be back here!" One girl shouts, as she changes her leotard.

"I'm so sorry! I had to bring Arya her hair thing!" Gendry quickly averts his eyes away from the poor woman and focuses to locate Arya. He sees her stretching before the show almost fully in costume. Her hair is left loose at her shoulders, and Gendry taps her gently to get her attention.

She sees the bun maker in his hand and smiles. "Thank you, God!"

"You're welcome." Gendry says, handing it to her. She quickly steps in front of the nearest mirror to fix her hair. "Don't worry, I'm never taking you hair stuff out again."

"It's fine, I just need to start putting it back in my bag."

She finishes twisting her hair, and uses a hair band to secure the bun before coating it in hairspray. Arya rushes to the stage entrance and waits for her cue. "Just stay back here for this scene. If you leave now you'll miss part of my solo, and I expect you to give me your full attention after my six months of preparation."

"I always give you my full attention," he teases and she rolls her eyes at him before she walks out to the center of the stage. The lights change to fix one on her and she takes a deep breath.

Arya stands in first position until the words begin. She raises her arms and turns into a slow spin before bringing one of her legs up at her side. She dances beautifully, doing moves that Gendry can't even pronounce without hesitation. Her graceful movements make Gendry's insides twist and he realizes that he had seen her dance, but he had never really watched her before. She spins and as stupid as he feels for thinking it, she was fucking artwork. Even though Gendry knows it’s part of her routine, when she reaches towards the side of the stage he’s standing on, with the brightest smile he had ever seen on her face, his legs almost give out. 

He did love her, even if he could never admit it to anyone else.

Ned rushes about behind Gendry, and sashays his way towards Arya. He spins her, and the dance continues. It hurts to see Arya with the look she just gave Gendry on her face for the act. Gendry knows Arya isn't, and will never be, his, but no other thought about her has hurt him as much as this one.

Ned lifts Arya in the air and she touches her foot to the back of her head, before he pulls her back down to lean into a dip in his arms. They take a bow after the final note and Arya beams as people clap and cheer for them.

She leaves the stage at the other side and more dancers come to stand next to Gendry. He moves out of their way and leaves the backstage to get to a seat. He finds Bran at the end of a row and sits by him. "You missed Arya's act," Bran hisses. "She's going to be so upset."

Gendry shakes his head. "She forgot something for her hair so I was backstage to give it to her and just watched her from there."

Gendry claps politely for the next few acts before intermission. Gendry keeps his eyes peeled for Arya in case she comes out into the audience, but she stays backstage. The final act put on by the cast features all of the dancers in a short performance, but Arya dances at the back and Gendry can barely see her over everyone else.

After her show, Gendry leaves his seat by a sleeping Bran to give Arya the flowers he had brought her. He felt nervous, which didn't make sense because he had known for over a year. He should be able to talk to her whenever he likes."You danced beautifully," Ned remarks to Arya. Ned reaches his hand out to Arya's face and Gendry expects her to push him away, but she doesn't.

"I know," she says.

Ned leans down closer to Arya, and plants a chaste kiss on her lips. Gendry squeezes the flowers in his hand tightly, and his knuckles quickly turn a shade of white. He wants to turn around and avoid the embarrassment he feels for being so stupid. Just because Arya wants to sleep with him didn't mean she wants to be with him. Before Gendry has the chance to turn back, Arya catches his eye and grins at him. "Gendry! How did you like it?" She asks, walking away from Ned and towards Gendry.

"Your performance was really good."

"Did you see me totally mess up my landing in the group act? I was supposed to come into a spin after my leap, but I stumbled and spun the opposite way, and almost tripped Ned!" Right now, Gendry thinks he would have paid to see Ned fall during the performance. He had never really felt threatened by Ned until he saw Arya kissing him.

"No, I thought you did great!" He assures, presenting Arya with the flowers. "I already had them when you called so don't worry, they didn't make me late."

"Oh my god, I was so busy before the show started, I didn't even notice, I'm sorry!"

"No, it's fine. I know you probably don't want red roses, but they were the best that I could do on a Friday night."

"Wow Gendry, I can't believe you would show up with flowers in the wrong color. It's like you don't even know me!" She teases, pulling him into a hug.

"Are we still on for tonight?" He asks.

"Um... I actually forgot about that," she grimaces, turning around to look at Ned. "I'll see you soon, though, yeah?" She asks, after she turns to Gendry again.

"Oh, um, yeah. Yeah, I'll see you soon." Gendry had made plans with Arya to go out to get dinner, but only as friends. Even if Gendry would have pretended he was on a date with Arya. Ned probably asked to her go on a fucking date with him, instead.

Arya gives him a small smile and Gendry turns around to leave and wake up Bran. He shakes Bran's shoulder to make him wake up, and before Bran can say anything, Gendry's already left the theatre.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one more chapter and then the epilogue!


	17. i wanna be yours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> arya’s POV: arya goes on her date with ned and realizes that she’s making a dumb decision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi sorry it took a little longer than i’d have liked to get this up but it was originally in gendry’s pov but then i lowkey didn’t like how it flowed so i ended up gutting it and starting over last night HA I LOVE MYSELF i don’t know why i am the way that i am

 

**I wanna be your vacuum cleaner**  
**Breathing in your dust**  
**I wanna be your Ford Cortina**  
**I will never rust**  
**If you like your coffee hot**  
**Let me be your coffee pot**  
**You call the shots babe**  
**I just wanna be yours**

**Secrets I have held in my heart**  
**Are harder to hide than I thought**  
**Maybe I just wanna be yours**  
**I wanna be yours, I wanna be yours**  
**Wanna be yours, wanna be yours, wanna be yours**

**Let me be your 'leccy meter and I'll never run out**  
**And let me be the portable heater that you'll get cold without**  
**I wanna be your setting lotion (I wanna be)**  
**Hold your hair in deep devotion (How deep?)**  
**At least as deep as the Pacific Ocean**  
**I wanna be yours**

**Secrets I have held in my heart**  
**Are harder to hide than I thought**  
**Maybe I just wanna be yours**  
**I wanna be yours, I wanna be yours**  
**Wanna be yours, wanna be yours, wanna be yours**  
**Wanna be yours, wanna be yours, wanna be yours, wanna be yours**

**I wanna be your vacuum cleaner**  
**Breathing in your dust**  
**I wanna be your Ford Cortina**  
**I will never rust**  
**I just wanna be yours (Wanna be yours)**  
**I just wanna be yours (Wanna be yours)**  
**I just wanna be yours (Wanna be yours)**

**I Wanna Be Yours ~ Arctic Monkeys**

_Arya_

"Arya... Arya," Ned waves his hand in front of her face. "You in there?" He teases and Arya gives him a small smile.

"Yeah, sorry," she says and tries to focus on Ned. She felt horrible that she wasn't paying attention to him, but she had to keep forcing herself to focus. Gendry had looked so upset with her when he left the theater, and now all she could think about was that maybe, just maybe, he felt the same about her. But that was stupid. She was on a date with Ned. She couldn't keep pining after Gendry. "You were saying?" She asks and takes another bite of her bread.

She listens as Ned talks to her and she tries to make quality conversation with him, but she just can't. She didn't click with him, and she knew now that she was right when she thought she only liked him as a friend. They leave the restaurant after they eat and Ned walks her to her door. "Thank you, Ned. I had a nice time," she says.

Ned gives her a pained smile. "You're into Gendry, aren't you?"

Arya is a little taken aback by his bluntness, but he doesn't look at her like he's judging her. He just looks a little sad. She nods a little. "I'm sorry, Ned. I'm not with him, and I don't think he likes me, so I was hoping that maybe I could move on," she admits. Ned purses his lips and sighs.

"I don't want to be a rebound, Arya. I didn't realize how much you actually liked him until tonight, but now that I know, I don't think... I don't think we're right for each other."

"I didn't mean to make you feel that way, Ned."

"You didn't on purpose. I think the fact that Gendry gave you flowers and I didn't, even though I was on a date with you, should've been my first hint that it wasn't gonna go over well for us." Arya plays with the petals on the roses Gendry had given her. "It's okay," he assures. "I'll see you in class on Monday. No hard feelings?"

Arya grins at him. "No hard feelings."

Ned smiles back. "You should tell him, though. I saw the way he looked at you when you were dancing."

Arya grimaces a little. She couldn't tell Gendry. Everyone said he looked at her like that, but that was just how his stupid face looked. She unlocks her apartment door and climbs the stairs to her apartment. Sansa runs into the kitchen when Arya walks in and hugs her.

"You were amazing, Arya! I had to send a video to Mom and Dad, because you looked so beautiful. I thought you were gonna fall so many times, but you didn't! It was incredible!" Arya grins and hugs Sansa again.

"Thank you, Sansa," she says with a slight blush. "It was only a three minute routine, though. I don't know that it was that great."

"Don't be modest. I'm being nice to you, just take the compliment," Sansa argues. Arya playfully rolls her eyes and smiles at Sansa. Sansa looks down at the flowers in Arya's hands. "Did Ned get you flowers for your... date?" She asks. Sansa has expressed her disdain for Arya going on a date with Ned, because Sansa knew that Arya actually liked Gendry. She didn't want Arya to lead anyone on, but Arya shakes her head.

"Gendry got them for me," she says and sets them on the counter to fill a vase with water.

"Gendry," Sansa repeats slowly.

Arya rolls her eyes again. "It's what lots of people do when they see their friends' plays or recitals. It wasn't romantic."

"Whatever..." Sansa hums. 

-

Arya thinks about what she should text Gendry all weekend. She wants to just talk to him and try to get back to normal, but she doesn't think she's going to be able to face him now that she knows for sure she is hopelessly in love with him. She hates it, but what's she gonna do about it now?

She hopes that Gendry will text her first when she can't think of anything to say, but he doesn't. By Monday enough is enough. He should be off work by now and Arya's just gonna have to go to him. She spends an embarrassingly long time trying to decide what she should wear. She had never cared before, she definitely shouldn't start now. She digs through her closet and finds a plain green top with spaghetti strap crosses on the back that she probably bought at Sansa's behest, but now she is grateful for it. It won't seem like she's trying too hard to look nice for Gendry and she foregoes styling her hair nicely to further prove that she wasn't trying to impress him.

Arya slips out of the apartment while Sansa and Margaery watch some film because she is really not in the mood to hear more about how Gendry's in love with her when he isn't. She walks to Gendry’s apartment, which is a few minutes closer to her than the one he used to share with Bran. She walks up the steps to his apartment door and knocks. She clasps and unclasps her hands while she waits and feels her palms grow a little sweaty. She wipes them on her shorts as Gendry unlocks the door and opens it. 

“Hey,” she says. 

“Hey.”

“Can I come in?” She asks. Gendry steps aside and shuts the door behind her. He, unfortunately, had dressed after a shower, but his hair was still a little wet. 

“How was your date?” He breathes out. Arya bites the side of her lip a little, and tries to think about she should respond. Gendry eyes her for a moment and sighs. “The agreement can end now,” he says, crossing his arms. 

Arya recoils a little in shock and lets go of her lip. “What?"

”That’s why you came up here tonight isn’t it? To tell me that it’s over and that you’re moving on?” He raises his eyebrows. Arya shakes her head and tries to think of what she can tell him without telling him too much. “You and Ned went on a date together, so that's that. If you want to be with him, then I won't stand in your way." Arya stares at him, and he waits for her to speak. When she doesn't, he opens his mouth again. "It was fun while it lasted, but you want to be with Ned."

"You’re so stupid,” she finally decides on telling him. If he was going to assume who she wanted to be with, the least he could do was be close to the truth.

“How?”

"I don't want the agreement to end. I mean, _I_ _do_ , but not for the reason you think," she mumbles the last sentence.

"If you want it to end, then it should end. You can't be with Ned and still sleep with me."

"You're so stupid."

"You keep saying that, but you aren't telling me why!”

"I don't want to be with Ned! I want to be with you! God, you're dense,” she snaps. 

Her words are sharp, and Arya regrets them as soon as Gendry opens his mouth and closes it. She never should have told him.

"What?" he finally chokes out.

"I want to be... with... you," Arya mumbles. She couldn't back out now.

"Why?"

"Why?" She repeats. Gendry nods. Arya shrugs a little, but Gendry’s face lets her know she has to elaborate. “I just like you. I have fun with you, and you make me happy.” Gendry gives her a small smile. “And you’re hot as fuck,” she teases, hoping to move past the mushiness she just told him. 

Gendry stares at her for a moment and Arya wants to punch herself in the face. She really shouldn’t have told him. 

“I wanna be with you, too,” he mumbles and Arya wonders if it actually _pained_ him to force those six words out. She can’t tell if her heart stopped or if it started beating so fast that she didn’t notice it anymore. She has to stop herself from smiling too widely. “I thought you liked Ned.”

“I thought maybe I could actually like someone else. I thought you didn't like me the same way, but I realized I didn't like Ned half as much as I liked you. And I didn't want to move on from you without knowing if I had a chance or not."

"I can’t believe you thought I didn't like you,” he teases and uncrosses his arms.

"Well, you weren't exactly clear. You acted like you did sometimes, but when I tried to get you to kiss me or do anything that seemed too couple-y, you would chicken out." Gendry gives her a small smile.

"I didn't think you liked me. I thought I was just imagining things and thought I was better off ignoring it.” Arya rolls her eyes playfully at him.

"That was stupid, Stupid."

"You're stupid,” he teases.

"You're stupider," she grins. Gendry rolls his eyes at her and steps forward. He touches Arya's face and she freezes up. He stares at her for a while before he moves his hand to the nape of her neck and tilts her head up. Arya brings her hands to his shoulders and she steps closer to him and stands on her tiptoes. She waits for him to kiss her, but he was stupid, so she's left waiting for a while. Arya grabs his shirt to pull his face down to hers and kisses him. Gendry smiles against her mouth and rests his other arm around her waist. 

Arya doesn't hesitate to wrap her arms around his neck, trusting him to catch her when she jumps up. He grabs ahold of her hips, and when she wraps her legs around him, he moves his hands to hold her ass. Gendry walks over to the counter, and sets Arya down, before crushing her against him. She runs her fingers through his damp hair, and tugs his head up so she can kiss his neck. He pulls his neck away to kiss her again, and she pulls up the back of his shirt. He tugs it over his head and tosses it aside, breaking the kiss for barely a second. She brings him closer to her, and tightly wraps her legs around his waist again. Gendry picks her up and tries to walk carefully to his room, but he doesn't pay very close attention. He sets Arya down on the foot of his bed and she uses her elbows to push herself up further as he climbs over top of her. She tugs her shirt over her head before she leans up to kiss him again. She wraps one of her legs around his waist and pushes his shoulder to flip them over. Gendry laughs at Arya and pulls at the hooks on her bra. He unclips it on his first try and grins at Arya. "Good job," she mocks. "You finally got the hang of it." He pushes the straps down while she pulls her arms out.

“It only took me a year,” he says. Arya grins at him and grabs a condom out of his bedside table and sets it by Gendry's head. Arya tugs her shorts off before she kisses him again. He runs his hands along her back and squeezes her sides when she bites his lip. Gendry flips them again, so he's back on top and Arya pushes down his boxers. She takes him in her hand and he gasps into her mouth. She uses his surprise to push him onto his side and she wraps one of her legs over him. He groans something about her being difficult, but settles for laying on his side instead of on top of her. He wraps his arm under her back and pulls her closer to him before he moves his other hand to rub her thigh. Arya brings her hands up to his face and stares at him for a moment. Gendry freezes but stares back at her. She leans forward and kisses him again. They kiss for while with roaming hands and Arya never realized how much she just _likes_ to be kissed. He runs his fingers along her spine and Arya shivers. His works his other hand furiously between her thighs and Arya doesn’t hesitate to reach for the condom after she comes. She sucks his bottom lip in between her teeth while he puts it on. Gendry shifts to rest his arms on either side of her head and moves to be on top again. She glares at him a little and wraps her leg around Gendry's waist, attempting to flip herself on top of him, but he doesn't budge this time.

"I haven't had missionary sex in over a year,” she protests. 

"What’s so bad about it?” He retorts. Arya scowls at him when she can’t come up with a good reason. She had always thought it would have just been awkward to do it with him before they had finally started kissing because it would have left their faces against each other. Now she just didn’t think she’d like it. “It'll be good, I promise."

Arya rolls her eyes. "Doubt it."

"Are you minimizing my sexual prowess?” Gendry teases and kisses her neck. 

"I stand by my former statement that missionary sex is for married couples and people who have plain sex."

"Want me to do you from behind, then?" He mutters, biting at her ear. She shakes her head. Gendry pushes at one of her legs to bend it, and she pulls her knee up to her breast. She grabs his hair and pulls his lips back to hers. He slides in her and she lets out a gasp at his first thrust. He smirks against her mouth, and pulls her other leg up. He rolls his hips back and forth, picking up the pace with each thrust, which emits a cry from Arya. He presses his lips to hers, and takes her bottom lip between his teeth. She presses the heel of her foot into his back, pushing her hips up in time with his thrusts. His fingers dig into her hip. He uses his thumb to touch her clit, and her lips pull away from his.

"Gendry," she sighs, softly, and he quickens the pace of his thrust. He leans down to kiss her neck, and keeps his pace up. Her fingers tangle in his hair and she scrapes her nails down his back. She brings his head down to kiss him, biting on his lip. He pushes his hips harder against hers, giving her the fuck she had wanted last week. Gendry pulls his lip from between her teeth to replace it with his tongue. Arya scrapes her thigh against his hip and pulls her mouth from his again, letting out a soft cry. She grabs the side of his face and catches his eyes. She expects him to look away, but he holds her gaze and digs his fingers into her hip, pressing his thumb against her clit. His eyes flick back down to her lips and she smiles before she leans up to kiss him again. She has to pull away from the kiss again when her legs start to shake and cries his name. He kisses her cheek, her nose, her forehead, anywhere his lips could reach. She tries to catch her breath before she kisses him again. Gendry grabs her quivering thigh and she pulls his hair and bites his lip when he comes. She kisses him for a little while longer, but his arm was starting to shake a little from holding him up for so long, so she begrudgingly lets go of him. He throws away the condom and lays down next to her. She scoots closer to him and rests her head on his shoulder.

"I thought missionary was for married people who like boring sex." Gendry teases. He wraps his arm around her and rests his hand on her hip.

"Shut the fuck up," she grumbles, but leans over to kiss the corner of his mouth, anyway. She was disgustingly happy. It was reaching the point that she was worried it might just be a dream. But if it was a dream, she had nothing to lose, then. “I’m glad you love me," she admits, barely above a whisper. Gendry grins at the ceiling and Arya rubs her hand along his bare chest.

“Who said I love you?” he teases and Arya shoves his shoulder. 

“We’ve basically been dating for the past four months without any kissing, so you’re well past due to say it.”

He leans over and presses his lips to her forehead. “Are you just saying that because of my impeccable ability or because you’re actually glad?” Gendry grins at her and Arya rolls her eyes.

“Both.”

"Good," he says. "I guess I love you. Even though you've knocked the best position for a year now."

She rolls her eyes at him. "It wasn't that great," she teases, giving him another kiss. “And I guess I love you, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FEELINGS!!!! (if these two idiots don’t end up getting together in the show im gonna fight d&d)


	18. jilted lovers and broken hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> arya’s pov: the starks celebrate a surprise wedding (epilogue!!!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DONT WORRY it is not arya and gendry's lol that would be a lil extra

 

 

**Hah hah hah hah hah hah**  
**Is there anyone out there?**  
**Somewhere I can belong**  
**Man the city just ain't so kind tonight**

**I need a place to take refuge**  
**See I been loving you blind**  
**And I guess that made it hard for me to find**

**That we were caught up in the middle of a worn out dream**  
**I knew we were in trouble but baby I almost screamed**  
**When I saw you dancing**  
**On the moon now**  
**I watched him spin you round and round**  
**Why did you roll your dice, show your cards?**  
**Jilted lovers and broken hearts**  
**You're flying away, while I'm stuck here on the ground**

**Is there anyone out there?**  
**Somewhere I can belong**  
**Man the city just ain't so kind, tonight**

**And if I had my suspicions**  
**I kept them out of my heart**  
**Just wished I would of known right from the start**

**That you'd be speaking in riddles and you'd never confide**  
**You know I knew we were in trouble, but honey I almost cried**  
**When I saw you dancing**  
**On the moon now**  
**I watched him spin you round and round**  
**Why did you roll your dice, show your cards?**  
**Jilted lovers and broken hearts**  
**You're out on the wind and I'm still waiting to be found.**

**You did a fine job of hiding**  
**That crooked ace up your sleeve**  
**You doubled down my direction**  
**You kiss me on the cheek and leave**  
**I followed you through the darkness**  
**I followed you through the cold**  
**Woman I can tell you one thing**  
**You're gonna wish you could go back and fold**

**Why did you roll your dice, show your cards?**  
**Jilted lovers and broken hearts**  
**You're flying away, while I'm stuck here on the ground**

**Why did you roll your dice, show your cards?**  
**Jilted lovers and broken hearts**  
**You're out on the wind and I'm still waiting to be found.**

**Yeah! Will I ever win?**  
**Only time will tell**  
**You got to suffer to remember how well**  
**That are our ideals never really marched in time**  
**That's the bottom line**  
**Jilted lovers and broken hearts**

**Jilted Lovers and Broken Hearts ~ Brandon Flowers**

_Arya_

"Happy Birthday!" Arya shouts and jumps onto Gendry's back. Gendry panics, but he instinctively catches her legs.

"Jesus, Arya," he hisses. Arya laughs and wraps her arms around his neck. "I hate how quiet you walk," he mutters.

"Sorry. I'll make it up to you," she muses in his ear. Gendry grins and leans back to set her down.

"Really?" He turns to her and raises his eyebrows. "How do you plan on doing that?"

Arya shrugs. "I'm good at making birthday cakes."

"You good at anything else?" He teases. Arya rolls her eyes.

"What's your favorite kind of cake?"

Gendry stares at her for a second. "Uh... the usual kind?"

Arya raises her eyebrows. "I made my little brother Rickon a bright blue cake for his thirteenth birthday after he finished reading the Percy Jackson books. Give me a challenge," she insists.

Gendry shrugs a little. "I'm partial to funfetti cake."

"You're serious?" she asks with a quirk of her eyebrows.

"I'm pretty sure I have a box in one of my cabinets, too."

"I don't make boxed cake, Gendry."

Gendry throws his hands up. "I like the boxed cake. If you're going to make me my favorite cake, my favorite is boxed funfetti cake."

"The last time I made a funfetti cake was with my mom for Bran's sixth birthday. If it turns out badly, it's your fault for picking it." Gendry rolls his eyes and pulls her into a kiss.

"You're a very aggressive baker," he teases.

-

"Hey, how soon can you make it home?" Arya's brother, Jon, asks over the phone.

"Why?" Arya asks, cautiously. She didn't think Jon was going to be home until next week, but he had lied about his arrival before. 

"Well, my plane lands tonight and Ygritte and I are getting married tomorrow-"

Arya nearly drops her phone into the cake batter. She picks her cell phone off of her countertop. "You're _what_?" She shrills.

"I've been dating her for almost two years, and she said she loved all of you when she visited and even Catelyn said that she seemed like she was good for me. Why should we wait?"

"Is it because you're a virgin, Jon? I like Ygritte, but I promise God will forgive-"

"Arya!" Jon hisses. "I'm doing this because I love her! She asked me to marry her last night and I figured there's no reason to wait!"

"All right!” Arya shouts back at his defense. “I can make it there late tonight, I guess. I was making a cake for Gendry's birthday, but I can just turn it into a wedding cake if you want?"

"That would be perfect, Arya. I love you!"

"I love you, too!" Arya responds. "Even though you've lost your mind," she mutters after the call ends. Arya sends a text to Gendry at work.

**Arya: change of plans, ur funfetti cake is now a funwedding cake**

**Gendry: i’ve been thinking about this for at least five minutes and i still don’t understand what you’re trying to tell me**

**Arya: jon’s getting married tomorrow, we’re going up there after you get off of work**

**Gendry: okay??**

-

Gendry drives Arya up to her house later that night and she rests the cake on the seat beside her. She had sat in the middle next to Gendry, and she noticed that he kept trying to hide a smile every time she kissed his shoulder or grabbed his hand. Arya kept trying to hide her smile, too.

When Arya arrives with the single funfetti cake, Catelyn shakes her head in frustration. “We need to make another cake or two,” she says, which Arya knows really means _she_ needs to make another cake. Arya complies and pulls out the ingredients she needs. She’s just putting the second cake in the oven when Jon arrives. Arya hugs him and calls him an idiot, which he only grins at with a shake of his head.

“How many people has Catelyn invited now?” He teases. “I called her and dad first, knowing that she would be upset without enough time to plan.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t call me first,” she gasps, feigning her offense. Jon rolls his eyes. “She’s probably invited half of the North by now. I came home and she told me I needed to make at least one more cake.” Jon grimaces a little.

“I really just wanted you, Robb, Bran, Rickon, and Sansa to be home for it. That’s kind of why I picked that we go to the courthouse first thing tomorrow morning.”

“She’s already called the Elk Lodge to rent out a hall.” Jon’s grimace grows.

“Jon, there you are! Ned said you were home, but I couldn’t find you.”

“Hi, Catelyn,” Jon says with a small smile. “Arya says you’ve rented out a hall, but you really don’t have to do all of-“ Jon insists.

Catelyn shakes her head at him. “I did the same for Robb. I will do the same for Bran and Rickon, and right now I’m going to do the same for you. I just wish I would have had more time to plan. You are not my son, but I do love you as my own.” Arya quietly steps out of the kitchen, knowing this conversation wasn't hers to hear. Ygritte and Gendry talk a little in the corner of the living room where the rest of the Starks sit, and Arya moves to sitby them.

“Are you excited for tomorrow?” Arya asks.

Ygritte grins. “Of course. I spent long enough waiting for him to ask me out the first time around, so I just did it myself. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to do it again with marriage. If I hadn’t, I’d probably be waiting until the time this one graduates from high school,” she teases, pointing to Eddy, who had come over to get attention from Gendry. Gendry smiles a little and holds his hands out to Eddy. Eddy wordlessly hands Gendry a plastic transformers toy and walks away. Gendry turns to look at Arya and she laughs at his confusion.

“What do I do with it?” he asks.

Arya shrugs. “If he wants it back, he’ll come take it,” she assures.

At around eight, Talisa and Robb put the twins to bed, but came back downstairs to eat dinner.Arya’s father was a quiet person for the most part, but Ned can no longer hold his tongue when everyone eats in silence. “Is Ygritte pregnant, Jon?" 

Jon chokes a little on his slice of pizza that Ned had ordered for dinner. "No," he splutters.

"Are you sure?" Ned whispers to him. Arya tries to contain her shocked giggle.

"Don't worry, Mr. Stark, that wouldn’t be possible. Your son follows his faith very strictly." Jon blushes deeply and his siblings laugh at his misery.

"Ygritte!" He hisses.

Ygritte laughs manically and shoves his shoulder. "Well, it’s true,” she defends. Her laugh breaks the awkward silence and the family is finally able to chat like usual.

-

“I would like to thank everyone for coming up here on such short notice. My beautiful wife and I are honored that you all wanted to celebrate with us.”

“‘ _Wanted_ _to_ ’ is generous,” Bran mumbles. Arya and Meera both shoot a glare at him. Meera had found out Bran’s older brother was getting married, and wouldn’t take any excuses for Bran to go alone. She was coming to the wedding reception, and that was final.

“I’d like to thank my little sister, Arya, for making the cakes and my father and Catelyn for making a few phone calls to rent out this hall tonight for the celebration.” Jon smiles at everyone who came, but Arya knows he still wishes that Ned and Cat had held it at their house with just family. “But most importantly, I would like to thank Ygritte’s father, Tormund, for raising this amazing woman,” Jon grins at Ygritte and she rolls her eyes at him with a small smile on her face. Tormund raises his glass at Jon and takes a drink. Jon sits down, indicating the end of his speech and everyone eats their cake.

“This cake is really good, Arya,” Gendry says and takes another bite.

“It’s not my best,” she says. She didn’t take a piece because she was boycotting Gendry’s decision to have funfetti cake. If he had picked red velvet or something, her brother’s wedding would have benefited. Gendry shakes his head at her.

“I guess it is kind of hard to fuck up a box cake, though,” he teases. Arya shoves his arm and rolls her eyes. He smiles at her and she feels stupidly warm and fuzzy from the look in his eyes. 

“I know that you didn’t want to spend your birthday with my family, but you did anyway.” Gendry shrugs a little. She leans up to his ear. “I really will make it up to you this time,” she promises. She pulls away and Gendry grins at her.

“Can we at least wait until we’re back in my apartment tomorrow, then?” Arya nods and takes a bite from his piece of cake. She shrugs a little.

“You’re right. It is good,” she admits.

Bran makes a comment about something that Arya doesn’t hear, but Meera gives him a glare. “Can you stop? I know you think your family wasn’t going to like me because I’m Jewish, but not a single one of them has been anything but nice to me. You’re nineteen years old, so stop fucking pouting,” she hisses. Arya had never seen Meera lose her temper before, but as soon as Meera said what she needed to say, she more than happily smiled at Eddy as he walked by. Eddy stops for attention and walks up to Meera.

“Hi,” he murmurs.

“Hi. What’s your name?” Meera coos.

Eddy hesitates for a moment. “Eddy.”

“Hi, Eddy.”

Eddy waves at Meera. “What’s your name?”

“Meera.”

“Mee-a,” he tries to say and she grins at him. She looks up at Arya and shrugs.

“Close enough. How old are you, Eddy?”

“Six,” he says, proudly.

“You’re not six, Eddy,” Arya says with a laugh.

“Uh-huh!”

“Nuh-uh,” Arya teases and tickles his sides. Eddy squirms and giggles. “You’re three.”

Eddy shakes his head and runs off to find his sister.

“I can’t believe fucking Jon got married before I did,” Theon grumbles and sits down at the table. “You gonna drink that?” He asks and points to the beer in front of Gendry. Gendry blinks at him for a second, but decides Theon probably needs it more than him right now. Gendry hands the bottle to Theon and he downs in two gulps. Gendry gives Arya a look and she winces a little.

“It’s okay, Theon. There’s someone out there for you,” she tries to comfort him. Theon shakes his head.

“There’s not. I’m destined to be miserable for the rest of my life,” he groans.

“If you keep acting like that you will,” Bran cuts in. “Stop having sex right away with every girl who’s interested in you and you might meet one who actually likes you.”

Arya expects Theon to lash out, but he only sighs and nods. “You’re right, Bran.” Arya hands Theon the rest of her wine. He smiles gratefully at her and takes the cup.

Ygritte pulls Jon up to dance when the music starts playing. Jon begs other people to join them so he doesn’t have to have a spotlighted first dance, but only Sansa and Margaery are willing to join them. The song ends, and Rickon stands up from the table. Arya turns to watch him and he sheepishly approaches Shireen. Rickon holds out his hand to her and Shireen accepts it. Rickon grins widely and leads her to the dance floor.

"Can we dance?" Arya turns to Gendry.

"Are you my girlfriend?" he teases.

"I guess," Arya responds. "You haven't asked me properly, though,” she whispers. She still never told anyone besides Sansa the truth, so when her and Gendry celebrate any future anniversaries, the reveal of the true date will be a little awkward. At least three people in her family thought something different.

"Do you expect me to get down on one knee or something? I'm asking you to date me, not marry me,” he quips.

"I know that, but it would give Jon and Robb a heart attack if you pretended to," she smirks as she takes a sip of her wine. She looks over at Robb, who kept cooing at Lyarra and making faces. Talisa smiles beside him with a hand on her pregnant belly. 

"You want me to give your older brothers a heart attack?" Gendry teases and stands up, offering his hand to her.

"Well, when you put it that way it sounds bad.”

Arya and Gendry walk to the dance floor and sway a little to the song. She carefully points out Rickon and Shireen dancing awkwardly in the back corner, trying not to let Rickon notice. Gendry hides a snort as Rickon tries to move his hand lower on her back, but Shireen grabs it and gives him a chastising look. “Young love,” he murmurs and Arya laughs.

Gendry pulls her hand up and she does a little spin before she kisses him. He smiles against her mouth. He wraps his arms tightly around her waist and she moves her head to rest on his chest. 

Sansa shamelessly gives Margaery a chaste kiss, and Arya looks up to her parents. Catelyn doesn’t say anything, but she purses her lips a little. Ned grabs her hand and smiles warmly. Catelyn looks back to Sansa and Margaery before she turns to Ned and smiles back. Her children were happy. That was all that mattered.

“This might be poor timing, but I distinctly remember you making me promise not to fall in love with you,” Gendry says in an amused voice. 

“I remember promising not to fall in love with you, either.”

”I know our relationship is just built on broken promises and all, but do you promise not to break my heart?” he teases. 

“I promise.” Arya stands on her tiptoes to kiss him again. “And I  blame your blue eyes.” Gendry grins at her and shakes his head a little. 

“I promise not to break yours either, then.”

**the end.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much to everyone who read, kudosed, and commented on this story! it means so much to me that people liked this because i spent so much time on it! i don’t think it’s the best thing i’ve ever written but it is definitely my favorite and i hope that i can share more of my stories (i have 19 gendrya wips i will definitely share at least one more lol) in the future, but for now, i’m just gonna focus on watching the final season and cry for two months :)))))


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